Cameron Murphy's: Role Play is not a show for everyone. It comes with a warning of graphic sexual content. Watching this show as a reviewer was not easy for me because a portion of the story revolves around sexual domination and violence. Although it was not my cup of tea, I have to say that Murphy did a very good job with the material.
Murphy is a talented actor. He uses the entire stage in the telling of the story, no set other than four chairs and a pillow, and convincingly conveys a broad range of emotions. Choosing to tell the story he did, and to include frank thoughts and descriptions, was, in my opinion, brave. Murphy gets very vulnerable on stage – with the woman in Belgium, and particularly with his interior monologues. He acts these out with a clever use of blackouts and hand-held red and blue flashlights. The choreography of these scenes is excellent.
The play ends with a big change in Murphy. The discomfort I felt at certain scenes was essentially redeemed by the growth of the character from those situations. Murphy lays his flaws and disappointments bare, and he learns from them. Murphy brings the audience along on a painful and very private journey, but it is not self-indulgent as some solo plays can be. Rather it is a little bit transformative – for him and the audience.
"Cameron Murphy's: Role Play"
Written and performed by Cameron Murphy
Directed by Paolo Laskero
October 17 & 19, 2024
United Solo Festival, Theatre Row, NYC
The 17th United Solo Festival
September 24 – November 17, 2024
Theatre Row
410 West 42nd (btw 9th and 10th Avenue)
STEPHANIE EAGAN is a professional writer based in NJ. A fan of every type of live performance imaginable, from taiko drumming to political performance art, she travels the tri-state area and beyond in search of music, art, theater, and excellent coffee.
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