Review
Review
Review: Good Night, Oscar
Sean Hayes gives a masterful performance as the troubled Oscar Levant at the Barbican theatre
It’s been many years since Oscar Levant was a household name. In some ways, he’d fit in well in today’s media landscape, irreverent enough to keep pace with any Gen Z celebrity. His rants about taboo topics – namely politics, religion and sex, in Doug Wright’s Good Night, Oscar – perhaps wouldn’t shock now as they did then. But the breathless, sick-making anticipation of watching someone fall apart behind our eyes feels entirely current.
It’s 1958, and Oscar Levant has been granted a four-hour pass from the psychiatric unit where he has been receiving treatment for a cocktail of mental health disorders. These precious hours are not devoted to family time, however, but to an appearance on The Tonight Show with host and friend Jack Paar. Much-discussed by the other characters before he appears onstage, Levant, when he appears in the shape of Sean Hayes, confirms all their fears. He is unpredictable, irascible (a sign, he claims, that he’s undermedicated) and actively unwell. He is also quick, sharp and refuses to suffer fools. From his first few minutes onstage, we understand why this man makes great TV.
The supporting cast is excellent. Ben Rappaport as gleeful TV jester Jack Paar plots and coaxes, all whilst believing himself above reproach. Daniel Adeosun as Alvin, the unlucky medical professional in charge of keeping Levant away from his bag of drugs, is firm but kind, whilst Rosalie Craig as Oscar’s wife, June, is perpetually composed, doggedly focused, and hurt. Who among them, if any, truly have Oscar’s best interests at heart is a question left up to interpretation, but they’re all off the hook to a certain extent – Oscar is a hard person to help.
Doug Wright’s script and Lisa Peterson’s direction give this period piece a modern rhythm, with an emphasis on comedy that lets the tragedy take care of itself. Rachel Hauck’s sets are cleverly done – a sound stage reminiscent of a padded cell, a dressing room that appears warm and inviting to everyone but Oscar, with flowers that remind him of a funeral home and faces of the more successful to stare down at him from the wall. “I felt that thing people like me feel when we hear something truly great,” Oscar says of hearing Gershwin’s music. Admiration is the guess. “Envy,” he corrects. His environment warps to fit his own imaginings, whilst Ben Stanton, Carolina Ortiz and André Pluess’ lighting and sound design spins us dizzyingly fast between nostalgia and neurosis.
Hayes rules over the proceedings with his well-deserved Tony in his back pocket. His Oscar charms us and makes us nervous. We know that he has done bad things – June Levant attests that in a recent episode he turned the house upside down and terrorised her and their daughters. Still, we like him and his acerbic honesty. We pity him, because Hayes plays him with an apathetic sadness belied by a quick wit and bursts of energy. When he comes alive for the cameras, we are entranced and afraid. At the end of his talk show appearance, he sits down at the piano and does battle with the ghost of Gershwin, before launching into a rendition of ‘Rhapsody In Blue’ so haunting it threatens to eclipse every quiver in the voice and perfectly delivered joke. We were afraid he wouldn’t be able to play at all. Now that he has performed for us, we want more.
It isn’t that this is the message of Good Night, Oscar – that is to say, the play doesn’t rage against exploitation of the celebrity or slap us on the wrist for wanting to watch what happens. But it’s hard not to leave the room feeling some amount of unsettled. “He needs an audience,” June declares, and she feels it her responsibility to provide one. Perhaps we are doing a duty by being it. One thing is certain – whether or not Oscar Levant needs an audience, Hayes deserves it.
Good Night, Oscar is playing at the Barbican Theatre until 21 September – find tickets here
