
Bittersweet, Funny, Resonant, Entertaining, Absorbing
See it if
You're up for an exuberant retelling and celebration of George Rose, theatre and life in the 70's, and a deep friendship turned dark.
Don't see it if
You're homophobic, have an aversion to theatre gossip, one-person autobiographical monologues or disliked George Rose to begin with
Also Ed Dixon's bravura solo performance, channeling the late George Rose as well as instantly morphing into the likes of Gielgud, Olivier, Hepburn and Burton, among others, is a great example of a successful, well-placed and positive use of personal experience, pain and anger.
In a spellbinding performance recounting his 20 year friendship with the extremely talented and influential Rose, Dixon not only displays a virtuoso technique, but shows – and shares – the therapeutic value of the word; the healing that comes from the telling.
It's a great, perhaps inadvertent lesson for audience as well as performer, a reminder that laughter binds and unites us, and in time can help put things in perspective and maybe even right.
I suspect that Mr. Dixon and we learn more & more each night, each performance, about ourselves, about art, about what happened. Every performance helping make some sense of senseless acts that so tragically ended such a vivid, sentient life. Vivid & bittersweet, go.