Review of ‘Dick’: “It drilled me at first, but ended up blowing”

The Drayton Arms Theatre hosts the return of Adam Kinneen’s play – dealing with five friends testing their sexual boundaries and life experiences from their different perspectives. Guillermo Nazara shares his views on the show, to let us know if this gang bang is an easy swallow.

I’ve done a lot in my young life – save the smirk, I was asked for my ID at a club last night; the reason why is another story… In any case, the hedonistic longings of twenty-year-olds yearning for sexual adventure, in a shallow attempt to fill the void of their existences, have a weaker chance of thrilling me than listening to Elon Musk make love to himself.

Yet, fresh approaches to an overexposed tool are something that I’m always open to, as long as there’s enough substance to take. And that’s the attitude I came in with when I returned to the Drayton Arms Theatre last night, with every intention of devouring Dick – a fringe play revolving around a group of friends sharing their views on life, relationships, and what authentic experiences are all about.

Written and directed by Adam Kinneen, the show begins with a birthday party – where its host, Noah, complains about the tedium surrounding his every day, having done it (and them) all at age 26. His crave for new escapades will lead to the most unfortunate outcome – something that he never wished for, but which, for the very first time, will put him in touch with reality.

There’s nothing groundbreaking about this premise. In all fairness, its closeness with Wilde’s Victorian masterpiece, The Picture of Dorian Gray, is uncanny. There’s nothing wrong about basing a modern work on a previous classic, but there must be a valuable bonus to it that justifies doing so. Here, we have a stereotypical Lord Henry and an impressionable friend falling for the charms of his deft tongue (his way with words did arouse my interest). But it doesn’t get any better than that. The script fails to find its own identity and all of the subjects it deals with don’t breathe any air of innovativeness.

On the other hand, the recount lacks proper development and pacing – with a slightly overexpositional first act and an extremely rushed second half in terms of action and character arc. As a result, we can’t either relate or sympathize with any personages, as their construction seems incomplete – unable to give us enough elements for us to bond with them, with too many key parts of their paths barely touched or totally disregarded.

The production still manages to display some redeeming features, nonetheless. Its staging (credit to Katie Shores) is functional and more or less dynamic, while Harriet White’s lighting accentuates both emotion and atmosphere with sufficient dexterity. All in all, the cast flaunts chemistry, despite some performances not oozing enough layering and naturalness in their execution. Among them, the highest mentions go to Joseph Lynch as Noah and Frederick Russell as Ruby, both portraying their roles with charm and presence, while also delivering some additional rapport towards each other.

Not every Dick is worth the ride. I’m sure this is not the first show I’ve watched holding that title. And I’m sure it definitely won’t be the last one. But, as for memorability, this Dick struggles to make us feel much. Good in ideas, but missing the point as to how it brings them forward, the play needs some better handling to squeeze every drop of its potential, instead of letting it be sucked away. No matter the size (it’s a long piece), no matter how deep it gets, a quick finish only puts things down.

All pictures credit to Abigail Dawn.

Dick plays at London’s Drayton Arms Theatre until 26 April. Tickets are available on the following link.

By Guillermo Nazara