Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll

Pegasus Theatre

When presented with a theatre title such as this, it is almost inevitable
that critics will see this production as either a nostalgic piece or as just
plain rubbish. This familiar slogan has graced the lips of revolutionaries
as well as those who thrive on living in the moment. For the writer, Eric Bogoslan, "Sex,
Drugs and Rock & Roll" is more than a slogan, it is a lost formula that at
one time equated to a sort of happiness. Bogoslan's script shows that these
factors no longer inhibit the mind as a reminder of pleasure, but serve as a
reminder of what a life free of capitalism-obsessed standards would be
like.
Cracked Actor Productions are working with Oxford Youth Theatre to present their
adaptation of this script. Marcus Dilly takes on the double responsibility of
not only directing the play, but being a member of the cast as well. The
production is held at Pegasus Theatre, a venue that seems to amplify the
mood of this script in a dark sort of way.
The art of monologue is the central means of getting the script's message
across to the audience. The show is divided into two parts; within each
there are roughly six monologues. Three actors take on the duty of
becoming these different characters, none of which are at all like any
other.
The different characters are all subjects of stereotype, a common device
used to showcase a writer's true feelings. For Bogoslan, the characters he
created for this production are all products of the excess of , or absence of,
sex, drugs and rock and roll.
These characters include a post-addicted rock star who hasn't fully
grasped a sense of reality, a homeless man who justifies his pleading as a
fault not his own, a man who thinks of himself as the answer to all women's
needs, a man who craves to be normal while trapped in a doctrine that views
normalcy as blindness. The list goes on.
The absence of a flashy set makes it possible for the audience to dive
into the rawness of the character's emotions. A visual is projected behind
them that portrays some sort of humanist message to amplify the antics
onstage. The talents of Ben Coren, Marcus Dilly and Elliott Ing are clearly
justified in their roles, their quick character changes are unnoticeable to
the viewer, in the sense that if their faces had been masked, one couldn't have told that only
three cast members were taking on the entire performance.
The content of this production makes it hard to deem its theme original, but
the manner in which it is presented makes it obvious that such originality
isn't the purpose. Although the theme of understanding the "system" as a
machine seems clichéd, at the same time it reminds people that money and
power aren't the ultimate ends of the American dream. "Sex, Drugs and Rock
and Roll" is a production that leaves you not in perplexity, but in
reflection as to how you live your life, and if that life is really the way
you want to live.

Rachael Liberman 4/10/01