It’s 1957 and in the office of NBC studio lawyer Mr Parks, a screenwriter named Bobby has one simple request: please sign young up-and-coming actor, Sidney Poitier, to his TV movie about the friendship between two dock workers. Parks isn’t convinced that it’s believable that these two characters – one white and one black – would be friends. The lawyer admits he’s heard good things about Poitier in Blackboard Jungle, though he hasn’t bothered to go see it.
This opening
scene sets the stage for Ryan Calais Cameron’s play, Retrograde,
which opened at MTC this week. It’s full of the witty banter and repartee you’d
expect from a Hollywood comedy of the era, as well as the misogyny and racism
of the time. Parks is hung up on the fact that Poitier is “black-black”, which
was less acceptable than a light-skinned performer like Harry Belafonte. Bobby
convinces Parks to have the meeting, and to stick around to introduce the two –
and obviously to try to iron out Parks’ sharp edges.
The set-up is very traditional: three men in a room, power
dynamics shifting throughout. But not long after Poitier arrives, Parks wonders
if the young man has “amnesia”. Has the young black actor forgotten his place?
Does he think he has any bargaining power here in Parks’ office? Retrograde
is about backwards ideas of 1957, as much as it is about how society is regressing
now. And, in medicine, retrograde amnesia is the term for losing memories preceding
a traumatic event.
Zoe Rouse’s set is perfectly mid-century, like an office
straight out of Mad Men. The glass windows with venetian blinds looking
out into a corridor creates tensions around exits and entrances – and allowing
for occasional eavesdropping – with a pair of working elevator doors and a clock ticking
through real time.
Director Bert Labonté breaks us out of the naturalism on
occasion, though – allowing the character of Sidney to have his moment in the
spotlight. Literally. When Poitier is telling the two men about how he got into
acting, he’s talking to the audience with an applause sign behind him. It lends
a lovely retro feel to proceedings, but it also lets us see Donné Ngabo become
the famous actor we know. He shows us the cheeky grin and the suave moves in
those moments; fully assured and confident about who he is.
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It’s a hard ask to play a real person on stage, let alone one of Hollywood’s greatest actors, but Ngabo finds a way to bring the actor back to life, without it feeling like an impression. It’s a fully lived-in performance. Ngabo is a revelation.
Bobby is the catalyst, desperate to further his career but
also to do what he thinks is right – cast black men in non-stereotypical roles.
Josh McConville is powerful in the role, negotiating between two characters
with the most power in the situation: Mr Parks, who could stall the whole
project until it disappears, and Poitier, who could walk away.
It’s not just about trying to appeal to Parks’ sense of
decency – if he has any. It’s not just about signing off on an unusual casting
choice. Parks wants Poitier to sign a loyalty oath and to renounce his
connections with performer Paul Robeson, who has been targeted by Senator
McCarthy over his possible affiliation with the Communist Party.
In a play that very much embraces the idea that not much has
changed in Hollywood, especially for black actors, the idea of a loyalty oath
doesn’t seem that far-fetched these days either. Actors losing work or being
persecuted for all sorts of political associations is happening now, in America
and here.
In the role of slimy lawyer, Parks, is TV legend Alan Dale –
best known to Australian audiences as Jim Robinson in Neighbours (unless
you’re a millennial, then you might know him as Caleb Nichol in The O.C.).
This lawyer is closer to Caleb than any role I’ve seen Dale play, but it feels
like a deliberate choice to have Dale play the anti-Jim, a vile racist and
misogynist. Dale is astonishing in the role; fast-talking, quick-witted and never
willing to back down.
Retrograde is high stakes, calling into question
Poitier’s integrity as a black man in Hollywood during Senator McCarthy's HUAC hearings.
Labonté has fashioned a wonderfully tense production, keeping us on our toes
throughout. And Donné Ngabo’s performance is not to be missed.
- Keith Gow, Theatre First
Retrograde is playing at the Fairfax Theatre at Arts Centre Melbourne until June 27
Photos: Sarah Walker
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