Review by Kate Gaul
The story of the greatest physical comedian of all time – Charlie Chaplin – is given a stunning one-hour treatment and re telling by one of the most dazzling performers to emerge on the fringe circuit: dancer, actor, singer Marcel Cole.
Being a classical dancer and burgeoning clown it is not a huge stretch to imagine why Marcel Cole chose Chaplin as his character and subject matter in this new show which premiered at Sydney Fringe 3 days ago. The show will take a while to truly blossom but in its current form it is both entertaining and enlightening. Cole tells the story of Chaplin’s life from having been born into dereliction to becoming one of the most (if not THE most) influential artist of his time. He spanned the transition from silent films to the talkies like a titan only to be exiled from America. He was accused of communist sympathies, and some members of the press and public were scandalised by his involvement in a paternity suit and marriages to much younger women. An FBI investigation was opened, and Chaplin was forced to leave the U.S. in 1952 and settle in Switzerland.
Marcel Cole dresses as Chaplin’s “Little Tramp” throughout complete with pale face, heavy eyebrows and toothbrush moustache. He has even curled his hair under the recognisable bowler hat. An ambitious and charming element of the show is that Cole enlists the audience to help tell the story. Through gesture and the occasional whispered instruction Cole has us playing the police, the rich robbed guy at the end of the Little Tramp’s antics; his mother, his brother and eventually the woman he marries before exile. As time shifts and Chaplin uses his voice on film things become somewhat easier in communication. Having said that, Cole’s gestural language is to die for, and his gentle, elegant performance style has us transfixed.
The performance is assisted by some classy projected titles that provide the dialogue in the first half of and headlines to advance action and fill some gaps. We get a snippet from the great “Modern Times” but it is Cole’s treatment of the telling of both the creation and content of his first sound film “The Great Dictator” that is worth the price of admission. Stripped to black undies, a red armband and peaked cap his ballet chops come to the fore and we are transported by a crazed dictator and this interpretation of the famous Chaplin globe dance underscored by Wagner’s prelude from the opera “Lohengrin”. This scene encapsulates both Chaplin and Cole’s physical and comedic gifts in a way that is biting and timeless. It is both romantic and scary as we contemplate a modern would-be dictator in Trump.
Though dialogue adds beauty and expression to our world, some emotions are so complex that they can only be expressed through movement. Movement and dance can bring out subtleties in emotion that speech will never fully explain. For this reason, Charlie Chaplin’s ability to incorporate dance into his film work deepened his abilities as an actor and allowed him to tell stories in an interesting and frankly beautiful way.
Marcel Cole will make you laugh and cry. See if you can catch his “Smile” before it leaves town. His multi awards winning “The Ukulele Man” plays next week.
Image Supplied
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