Theatre PRs are a pleasant bunch, so I haven’t come across the sort of public relations officer who is prepared to ruin their client’s career in order to get publicity for his badly written book.
But that is the premise of Sam Peter Jackson’s play at Trafalgar Studios 2. Nigel Harman oozes with cynicism and superficiality as Larry, a disgraced PR who is trying to get his own career back on track while publicising the scribblings of respected newsreader Geoffrey (Robert Daws), a pompous, self-indulgent man who remains in the closet while his wife files for divorce. Bad reviews look to have consigned Geoffrey’s book to the bargain bin, until he is photographed in his Mercedes in an uncompromising position with a 16-year-old boy. Now the newsreader has more publicity than he could ever have expected, or wanted. But, as the old adage goes, is all publicity good publicity?
As Jackson’s play develops, it is clear that the scenario is not as straightforward as it appears and that seems to be the playwright’s message, that in the 21st century the media reflects not reality, but the engineering of a clever PR.
Devoid of all conscience and scruples, Harman’s sleazy Larry appears almost inhuman in his actions towards his self-important yet vulnerable client, who at least has the basics of human emotion within him. But even Geoffrey’s situation doesn’t quite ring true; why does he so willingly succumb to the charms of young Jamie when he seems to genuinely love his boyfriend? Indeed it is hard to sympathise with any of the characters in Jackson’s play, even 16-year-old Jamie (Steven Webb), who has his own agenda.
There are some funny moments in Jackson’s quick-fire dialogue, and also some uncomfortable ones as Larry forces Geoffrey to describe in exact detail what happened between him and Jamie in the car. Publicists, Jackson says, need to know absolutely everything in order to decide precisely what they can mould to their own advantage. And if they can’t turn the situation round, then a stint on a reality show just might. “They’ll forgive you anything,” says Larry of the public when proposing that Geoffrey do a stint on a reality show set in a dental practice. Really? Doesn’t that depend on how many bugs you eat?
Public Property offers a highly cynical view of society, one in which the public is an emotionless, sleaze-hungry pack of wolves baying for the blood of anyone on television, fuelled by the manipulations of coke-head PRs who think of themselves first, their clients later. Surely this is an exaggeration and society has not quite reached such depths? Right, I’m off to watch I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here.
CB