Image: supplied
The year is 1981, and as the audience file in they are greeted by the lavish yet tasteful living room of the great Sue Mengers, the most influential Hollywood heavyweight you’ve never heard of.
The lights dim, then go up to reveal Miriam Margolyes as Mengers, already on her throne. Like a spider in a web, she sits and smokes and talks, connected to the world beyond by the ever present telephone at her side. She’s waiting on an important phone call, from her old friend Barbra.
Margolyes brings the little known character of Sue Mengers to life through expert use of voice, expression and gesture. With nothing to hide behind except a cigarette, Margolyes delivers a tour de force performance. Her Mengers is a mercurial and complex character, by times brash, witty, self-deprecating, melancholy, triumphant and gleefully vulgar. She roars with laughter at her own jokes and constantly references her famous friends: ‘I never invite anyone to my parties who isn’t famous!’
Margolyes’ American accent, achieved with the help of a dedicated vocal coach, was utterly convincing and even alluded to Menger’s history as a Jewish immigrant to New York in the 1930s, with some key words pronounced with a bronx drawl,.
Playwright John Logan may be known in Melbourne for Red, produced by Melbourne Theatre Company in 2011, but it’s more likely audiences will be familiar with his other work. As a Hollywood screenwriter Logan wrote the scripts for Gladiator, Sweeney Todd and The Last Samurai, among many others. He first met Mengers at one of her dinner parties and was entranced. He wrote the play after her death with the help of close friends and interview transcripts.
I’ll Eat You Last is a challenging proposition to stage, especially in Australia. It is a fabulous monologue and it needs to be, at ninety minutes long with no interval and minimal movement. It also has to be said, it is unlikely an Australian audience will be familiar with Mengers, despite her status as the Hollywood mega-agent from the “new Hollywood era”. It is also unlikely they will have the requisite knowledge of the period, the people and the films referenced to understand every joke.
This production overcomes this challenge through the strength of Margolyes’ performance. Her Mengers is larger than life and Margolyes creates the feeling that Sue herself is performing the role she has written for herself. In the quiet moments, after a disappointing phone call, after another client slips away, Margolyes lets Mengers’ mask wobble and exposes something raw, kind and vulnerable. The audience is drawn in, each of us acting as Mengers wordless confidants. She is utterly absorbing – every time she pauses you could hear a pin drop.
I’ll Eat You Last is more than just a celebration of celebrity and Hollywood gossip. Behind all the movie stars and the glamour its heart is a tribute to a fascinating, hilarious woman who lived an incredible life. It justly deserved the standing ovation it received on opening night – go and see this show.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
I’ll Eat You Last
The Melbourne Theatre Company
Arts Centre Melbourne, Fairfax Studio
Written by John Logan
31 October – 20 December 2014
