Brisbane review -The Only Thing Worse You Could Have Told Me
- 2 hours ago
- 3 min read
By Lilian Harrington
Production: The Only Thing Worse You Could Have Told Me
Writer: Dan Butler
Director: Timothy Weston
CJ Prods: C J Mooi
Location: Back Dock Arts ,103 Brunswick St. Fortitude Valley, Q. 4006
Season: June 9 -27
CJ Mooi has mounted this independent production at Back Dock Arts for a June season and he’s supporting the young LGBTQ community. Written by American writer Dan Butler, in the mid -1990s, it hasn’t been performed in Australia before, or for some time in America. He holds the audience’ s attention as his one-man monologue, takes on the roles of thirteen different characters, who recount through dialogue and action, what it is to be gay, how it is with the way they live their lives, experience love, and the problems of having to come out to family and friends.
CJ Mooi is an experienced professional English actor, now Brisbane-based, who said it had taken him eight months preparation to become fluent with lines and characterizations for this show. The production called for short breaks between each character which were supported by music and sound effects; he made it flow with his quick costume changes, before introducing each new character. Some characters simply made a “splash”; in particular the sparkling dancer and the other Leslie, where he showed a poignancy and different levels of intent.
CJ Mooi has received several awards for his stage performances; in 2024 he won a Matilda Award for “Banana Crabtree Simon” a one- person performer in an independent production. He held the lead role in “The Renata Road” movie which has won over twenty awards worldwide, plus a best actor award in the San Francisco International Film Festival. Later this year he will travel to New York for the premier of his movie “Death Spin 2”
The Only Thing Worse You Could Have Told Me has a changing monologue and each of the thirteen characters is fully explored. At the time it was written in the USA, the Aids Virus was rampant, and there was a very negative attitude towards gay folk. However, CJ hopes that his stage work gives a voice to the gay community and helps create a better level of understanding and support for them from the public.
The set was simply designed on two levels by Director Tim Weston; it included a costume rack which also doubled as a curtain, along with a raised proscenium area, which included a bed covered in a sheet which was used at times to represent a body, plus a chest of drawers to hold clothes and a dressing table. Weston’s creative design used all aspects of the stage and props creatively even two bar stools. At times the script called for conversations between C J in character and an invisible presence, or it showed him reflecting with his arm movement, which could be a little confusing.
Writer and actor Dan Butler, known for his role as “Bob Bulldog” in Frasier a T V series, came out early as being openly gay; it was his father who said “The only thing worse you could have told me was that you were dead.” Butler starred in his own work, in its first premier performance in 1994, in Los Angeles, where there was a strong gay influence.
Back Dock Arts are hosting CJ’s premier performance here in Queensland. It has some strong language and sensitive content but, it is a production that should be seen as CJ Mooi commands attention, portraying his characters with an unforgettable passion and energy.
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