Produced by Clayton Jevne
Despite the wild grey hair and unhinged grin, the promotional posters for Diary of a Madman at the Victoria Fringe Festival aren’t about Rasputin. Had the show been about him, I’d be deeply invested since this guy was more than an occultist. He was a seer. Well, that’s just my interpretation. Clayton Jevne plays Aksenty Ivanovich Poprishchin, the low-ranking clerk who tries to win Sophie’s favour and impress others above his station. But this lengthy one-man monologue requires some knowledge of Nikolai Gogol’s short story of the same name to fully appreciate the show.
Essentially, we’re watching this man go completely and utterly “mad.” What stands out is how quickly he becomes alienated from society, while nobody believes anything he says.
Jevne is hardly an unknown actor testing his sanity at the Fringe, so some background is necessary: He has led Theatre Inconnu since 1987, helping make it one of Victoria’s longest-running alternative theatre companies. He also founded the Victoria Shakespeare Festival and has toured solo productions since 1986, logging nearly 1,000 performances internationally. This isn’t his first encounter with Gogol either. Jevne previously performed this adaptation in 2007 and brought it to UNO Fest the following year.
With only a few objects onstage, he uses changes in voice, expression and movement to create Poprishchin’s office, the people around him and even the dogs whose correspondence he believes he can read. As the clerk’s grip on reality slips, Jevne’s movements grow more erratic and the humour takes on a much darker edge.
Understanding what he’s saying requires theatre of the mind. The audience has to fill in the blanks since all we see is Jevne in costume with a chain around his ankle. For a moment, he reminded me of Renfield, except Poprishchin isn’t calling some hidden spectre “Master.”
Beneath the period clothing is also a surprising punk streak. Gogol attacks a system where wealth and rank determine a person’s worth. Poprishchin has no real power, so declaring himself the King of Spain becomes his warped act of rebellion against everyone who considers him insignificant. It’s funny, pitiful and eventually horrifying.
Jevne’s performance is mesmerizing and will leave some audience members spellbound. Although he recounts the story nearly verbatim, the minimalist presentation requires familiarity with Gogol’s work to understand every shift in Poprishchin’s reality. His own flourishes may creep you out and leave you unsettled by the end, especially once it becomes clear there is no happy ending.
3½ Stars out of 5
Diary of a Madman Remaining Shows
Aug 30, 6:45 pm
Sep 4, 5:30 pm
Sep 5, 12:00 pm
Sep 6, 2:00 pm