Sergio Blanco’s play The Rage of Narcissus is directed by award-winning director Daniel Goldman. The production is currently running at Pleasance Theatre.
Based on a true story, The Rage of Narcissus is a fascinating and disturbing journey into the labyrinth of the self and the darkness within us all.
When Sergio arrives in Ljubljana to give a lecture on Narcissus, the first thing he does after checking in to his hotel room is to get on an app and look for someone to have sex with.
A few hours later, once Igor has come and gone, Sergio spots a dark brown stain on the floor. Looking closer, he sees that it’s a blood stain. And looking around, he discovers more and more blood stains all over the room.
As he begins to investigate, he gets drawn deeper and deeper into a dark murky world of desire, infatuation and murder. Perfect material for the new play he’s trying to write – if he can get out of Ljubljana alive.
What are the hardest challenges you see in directing this production?
Goldman: Well, there’s only one actor, and though Sam Crane is brilliant, it does make warm up games hard!
But seriously, it’s a super challenging play because it’s so so clever and twisty and mind-boggling, and at the same time it’s a play that asks you to keep things as simple as possible.
It’s a play that will bamboozle, surprise, shocked and scare. It’s part thriller, part horror, part murder mystery, part documentary, part fiction and part TED talk, all rolled into one.
Oh and it’s really funny in moments too. BUT the more you throw at it, the less it works. So it’s exciting exploring how close we can get to the edge of doing seemingly very little, and yet taking the audience on a huge journey.
Can you tell us a bit about the background of the play and how it came about?
Goldman: This is Sergio’s follow up play to his international hit Thebes Land, and again it’s an auto-fiction piece. What that means is that Sergio is a character in the play and the story is based on his personal lived experiences, and that he uses those real experiences as a launchpad to tell the most amazing story.
Which is that Sergio arrives in Ljubljana to give a talk on Narcissus at a big international symposium. The first thing he does after checking in to his hotel room is to get on an app and look for someone to have sex with.
A few hours later, once Igor has come and gone, Sergio spots a dark brown stain on the floor. Looking closer, he sees that it’s a blood stain. And looking around, he discovers more and more blood stains all over the room.
As he begins to investigate, he gets drawn deeper and deeper into a dark murky world of desire, infatuation and murder. Perfect material for a new play – if he can get out of Ljubljana alive.
In terms of how it came about, I met Sergio at a theatre festival in Colombia in 2013 where he was presenting his play Tebasland. I loved it so much that I asked him if I could translate it and direct it here in the UK and he said yes.
I presented it at the Arcola in December 2016 and then again in September 2017. It was the most amazing play to work on and it did really well, getting rave reviews and winning the OFFIE for Best Production.
Most importantly, Sergio came to see it and loved the production and so we immediately started talking about La Ira de Narciso, which Sergio had already written and directed back in Uruguay. And here we are two and a bit years later and I couldn’t be more excited.
How does this play compare to other productions you have directed?
Goldman: I’ve directed a whole bunch of one person shows, but not a single one of them is anything like this play. The show that comes closest is Thebes Land.
Sergio’s writing is so unique, so dazzling, so layered, and intellectual, and playful, and time-bending that it’s like nothing else out there. It’s like someone giving you a puzzle with no edges and no picture to work from, but bit by bit you work out the rules and then suddenly it starts making sense and an amazing surprising picture starts to emerge.
What do you perceive are the challenges for the actor in portraying Sergio?
Goldman: I think the two challenges are getting the lines in your head and making sure you stay on top of the story. The story has lots of repetitions and moments where it folds in on itself – the challenge is not losing the plot, quite literally.
What do you think an audience take away from the production?
Goldman: I think they’ll take away a whole night of talking with their friends about the show and trying to make sense of what they’ve just seen. Hopefully everyone will be arguing about what they think happened in the show.
The Rage of Narcissus can be interpreted in lots of ways. It’ll be fun talking to people after and hearing their takes on it. Apart from that, I think audiences will have a really fun night out…and maybe some nightmares too.
The Rage of Narcissus runs at Tangram Theatre and the Pleasance – 18th Feb 2020 – 8th Mar 2020. To find out more visit website.
Daniel Goldman is an award-winning director, translator, playwright and producer. Directing credits include Thebes Land (Arcola Theatre – winner of the 2018 Off West End Award – Best Production), You’re not like the Other Girls Chrissy (co-directed with Omar Elerian, Bush Theatre), Wanawake Wa Heri Wa Windsa (Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and international tour), Oedipus at Colonus (The Cambridge Greek Play), Frankenstein (Inside Out Theatre, Beijing), and Songs of Friendship with James Rowland (Three Weeks Editors Award). He has been the artistic director of Tangram Theatre Company since 2006 and was the artistic director of CASA Latin American Theatre Festival from 2007 until 2019.The Artiscape spoke with Daniel Goldman.
