The Paris Letter

(Darlinghurst Theatre Company)

The Paris Letter is by Jon Robin Baitz, the creator of the television series 'Brothers and Sisters'. It begins with the tragic climax of an embezzlement then leaps back about twenty years (1988), then about forty years (1962) and then forwards again to reveal the recurring relationship and ongoing friendship between a tormented closeted gay man and his 'out there' one time gay lover.

The first thirty minutes or so contains dense dialogue much of it baffling and not seeming to reveal what the play is really about nor where it is headed. At that stage I felt adrift from the storyline but then the play started to focus more on the characters and I began to get into it.

Four of the five performers play multiple characters which is not such an unusual practice in the theatre. Those multiple characters include the same people at different ages. At one point there is the slightly odd situation of a psychiatrist treating himself; that is, Actor X playing psychiatrist in the scene is treating Actor Y when in other scenes Actor X is Actor Y's character at an older age. Get it?

The acting is good and the simple staging is effective.

 A cautionary note for those of delicate disposition. The two performers in the photograph above have one brief full frontal nude scene.