Theatre
Review
Review: Already Perfect
Tony winner Levi Kreis confronts his younger self in this stirring autobiographical musical at the King’s Head Theatre
There’s a gospel thread that runs through Levi Kreis’ Already Perfect, a hangover from his church-going days back in Tennessee – or a sign of his conviction. This, his younger self tells him as Levi sits in his dressing room after a bad matinee, considering ending it all, is what he needs in his work. Conviction, belief in something bigger. For Matty, Levi’s teenage self pre-name change, this something is God. For Levi, ultimately, it’s his own ability to survive.
Already Perfect opens with Levi’s sponsor, Ben, entering the dressing room just in time to prevent Levi from overdosing. It’s a sombre beginning, and the show will journey to plenty of dark places in the next 100 minutes – conversation therapy, homophobia, abuse and AIDS, to name a few. These topics are treated with the gravity they demand, but this is, after all, Levi’s own story, and as such he’s best placed to find the humour in it, and eventually the light.
There’s a long journey to take before he reaches it, though, and the show’s three-person cast of multi-rolers are able guides. Yiftach ‘Iffy’ Mizrahi plays Ben with sincerity and genuine warmth, an angel on Levi’s shoulder, whilst the intractable Matty does everything he can to antagonise. Killian Thomas Lefevre plays Matty as a raw wound, full of internalised homophobia and self-loathing, his sarcasm eventually rotting into nihilism. Levi himself, in both his writing and his performance, is easy to empathise with even at his most self-destructive, emotional without being self-indulgent, unafraid to show us the worst but more interested in his message than in wallowing.
Great use is made of the intimate performance space at the King’s Head Theatre, with the characters – Matty in particular – constantly aware that he is performing for an audience. Dave Solomon’s direction allows for interplay with the audience, the theatre an essential set-piece as Levi performs his way through his memories. Kreis’ book and lyrics combine pop, rock and gospel to create a confessional album of work threaded through with plot – these numbers underline the emotional beats, but it’s the book that carries. The ending, in which Matty and Levi eventually reach a point of mutual love and acceptance, could be seen as a foregone conclusion, but for Levi – for Kreis, offstage – this embrace was never a guarantee. It’s not an unfamiliar story, but to watch it play out is deeply affecting nonetheless.
Already Perfect is playing at the King’s Head Theatre until 15 Feb – find tickets here
