The Lonely Wolf is Dirty Pretty Theatre’s contribution to MTC’s NEON festival of independent theatre, which continues to hold its place as one of the most relevant and generative contexts for performance art in this city (‘relevant’ because major arts organisations divesting themselves of funds for the benefit of independent creativity seems vital in the wake of George Brandis’ brutal funding cuts to the Australia Council). This is both despite, and because of, how closely it swirls and sways to the edge of sense.
Dirty Pretty’s ambitious amplification of Herman Hesse’s 1927 novel, Steppenwolf – a novel about a man caught between his animal and civilised natures – and the work of Jungian psycho-theorist James Hillman is gestural and self-aware. While sometimes labouring hard under the weight of its dense subject matter and seeming to get caught in narrative gambits that curb its build to a transcendental climax, the show’s complexity would reward a revisit.
Indeed, the commitment of Gary Abrahams’ company to intensely re-presenting literary works allows the investigation of a mythology that Hesse himself never thought anyone really understood, despite its fame. The Lonely Wolf is a demandingly conceptual piece that pays off in the end. Real talent in the troupe and a demonstration of Abrahams’ dramaturgical expertise make it a suitable talisman for these dark times.
