The Private Man Behind the Public Image
When Truman Capote died aged just 59 in 1984, Gore Vidal, a rival to the end, sarcastically commented that this was "a good career move". Capote was one of America's most controversial and colourful writers, flamboyant socialite and social gossip. For his unique and impeccable prose style in such novels as "Other Voices, Other Rooms" and "Breakfast at Tiffany's" he is regarded as a literary genius. In this solo show, Bob Kingdom introduces the private man behind his public image.
To an overture of Sinatra's "New York, New York", Capote walks on in black hat, beige trousers, jacket, and purple rolltop with matching socks. He sits on a black leather chair, feet not touching the ground, high-pitched voice with a slightly supercilious tone. As a lonely, only child in New Orleans, Truman wrote stories. As a young man in New York he was desperate to be famous, to be adored by critics and loved by friends. His novels immediately earned him celebrity status. On the publication of "In Cold Blood" he spent $15,000 on a party at the Plaza, always trying to win friends and influence people including Gore Vidal, Garbo, Graham Greene and Andy Warhol, " a control freak who spoke only 9 words".
TC reached stardom but his downfall was tragically due to his compulsive obsessive personality. As a celebrity he claimed to have lost 80% of his friends and lived "in gifted isolation". This is a mesmerising, penetrating self-portrait - Kingdom is able to grasp at the heart of Capote's multi-faceted nature - the literary superstar and drama queen as well as the sad, tortured soul who could not survive without fame. Forget the apostrophe - Bob Kingdom is Truman Capote.
When and Where
Assembly Rooms (Venue 3), 54 George Street. Runs to 30 August at 4pm every day.Vivien Devlin, August 2004
Return to Index of 2004 Fringe Reviews.
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