The Chair of Saint Peter (and Other Games) - Summer Nights

Reviewed by Paul Treasure

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Two cardinals sit deep in prayer or meditation as the audience file in. Is this some inkling of the tone of the show we are about to see? It is named “The Chair of Saint Peter” after all. Is this going to be another tense exploration of what goes on behind the closed doors of a Papal Conclave? Any misgivings give way rapidly in a frenzy of activity as the opening dance number introduces us with a full Las Vegas showgirl flair to the newly elected Pope Pucelli.

The new Pope, as portrayed by Lachlan Ives, is a force of nature. In a startlingly bravura performance, Ives pushes this ridiculous character to the very edge. This is a stunningly glorious piece of deliberate over-acting. He plays Pucelli like some ultimate agent of chaos, and get the distinct impression Ives has planted his foot down on the accelerator and removed the handbrake, and is just going for it. It is an absolute delight to see an actor with the courage, the skill, and the confidence to launch head on and embrace the chaos. And he pulls it off with apparent ease.

The show’s author, Ben Canute, plays the Pope’s offsider, Cardinal Cundo, in an extremely obsequious and subservient manner. In a feat of physicality that made this old man wine at the very thought of, he spent most of the play bent from the waist at a ninety degree angle. They are joined by a trio of other cardinals: Georgia Langenburg as the British Cardinal Fusilli; Shelby Rae Foster as the French Cardinal Du Bibelle; and, Asha Pearl as the Australian Cardinal Julian. All three are more than up the antics on stage, pitching to the right level of farce, but Pearl is gifted the role of cardinal Julian, whose ball-scratching, man-spreading Australian ockerness allows her to play the character as broad as her accent. This is an embarrassingly accurate caricature of our collective worst sides, and she plays it with conviction.

Rounding out the troupe, Olivia Taliangis has the most difficult and thankless  job of them all. While the rest of the cast are allowed to fly as high as they can, Taliangis’ role of Holly Waters, an investigative journalist, means her feet must remain firmly on the ground to anchor the play. Taliangis does a very good job trying to keep the show anchored and it is a shame her character prevents her from getting the chance to match the rest of the cast and really letting go.

The costumes by Georgia Langenburg were very effective. With the stark white of the Pope, matching with the traditional bright red of the cardinals, the choices helped make the show seem alive. The clever design made the transitions where the cardinals changed to become silent Trappist monks were quick and effective, with the brown bringing the chaotic tone down and lent an air of calm, albeit sinister.

The play itself took the glorious conceit of portraying the conclave itself as a series of games. The cardinals debated theology while playing Twister, a very clever analogy that worked brilliantly. They held a communal confession to a game of “Never have I Ever”. Uno cards were a frequent visual element. These games all worked very well and could have been explored a lot further than they actually were. The linking narrative of a murder investigation was interesting but led to an ultimately unsatisfying conclusion that seemed a little forced, almost as though they had run out of ideas. The audience on the night I went enjoyed it immensely, and it is certainly worth seeing, if for nothing more than the astounding level of commitment the cast give to the tricky, over the top playing style the piece demands.

Reviewer Note: Tickets for this review were provided by the theatre company.