The scene is set, Truman Capote’s hotel room complete with copy of In Cold Blood sitting like a sort of warning sign to the audience. Capote played by Patrick Moy is gearing up for his Black and White ball with The Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham as his guest of honour.
The theatre is in the round, the perfect way to encapsulate the audience into Capote’s world and make the play seem much more intimate and personal, bringing us into the hotel room as we watch Capote’s mind unravel. As Capote name drops and deals with the stresses of love, loneliness and making sure his party goes to plan, we see into a more personal side of Capote that is often speculated, still to this day.
Patrick Moy’s portrayal of Capote is superb, his mannerisms are precise. With a theatre of this style he must always be switched on and can never hide from the audience. This made the character much more believable as if the real Truman Capote was with us in the room. Moy’s accent was also a feat, a very difficult upper class 1950s/60s American accent. Very rarely did Capote’s monologue stop for the 50 minutes so to keep that up some seamlessly with no mishaps showed Moy’s acting prowess.
However I found that the beginning of the play dragged on and it was difficult to keep focus at points, with a lack of variation a lot of it seemed very repetitive. The play could have done with some more character development or breaks in monologue.
The Ballad of Truman Capote
The Space @ Niddry Street – Upper Theatre
18:05
August 6 -12, 14-26
https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/ballad-of-truman-capote
