By Emma
Recently I had the wonderful opportunity to attend a special viewing of James Lecesne’s one man show The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey. When I think of one man shows, I don’t think of a thought-provoking, moving piece of theatre at all. However, in just one hour and fifteen minutes, Lecesne was able to completely alter my perspective on one man shows.
The story opens in a small town on the Jersey shore with middle-aged detective Chuck DeSantis, the narrator of the show. DeSantis is recalling events of a recent investigation of the disappearance of teenage boy and local town “weirdo” Leonard Pelkey. DeSantis interviews many different people from around the town and begins to discover different aspects of the 9young boys life. Leonard’s aunt and her daughter Penny reveal that Leonard is a very unique boy with a very different sense of fashion. Penny informs DeSantis that Leonard is gay and he is constantly the target of discrimination and ridicule. After a series of interviews with many different characters Leonard’s body is discovered. DeSantis realizes that this is no ordinary boy and therefore no ordinary death. DeSantis becomes determined to discover the cause of Leonard’s death and realizes that it was most likely the tragic result of a hate crime. Throughout his journey to identify the despicable human being who took Leonard’s life, DeSantis realizes what an inspiration Leonard was to others. Though he was different and maybe in some eyes a tad bit strange, his differences brought out the best in others and gave so many people a sense of hope and happiness and impacted people’s lives in unexplainable ways.
James Lecesne gave the most powerful and beautiful performance that I have ever seen. Lecesne was able to take on so many different characters yet I never had any trouble identifying which character was which. Each character carried himself or herself differently, spoke differently, and possessed different personalities and quirks. Many actors have to take months to years of preparation in order to play one character. While performing, Lecesne had a maximum of two seconds to go from playing one character to another yet somehow he did so without failure. From a smoker to a detective to a hairdresser Lecesne gave each character its own pop of color. The show had the audience laughing, crying, completely blown away by the end of the seventy-five minute production. I was truly inspired by every piece of the show and I know for a fact that not one person in the audience left the theatre feeling completely uninspired or disappointed. So although one man show’s aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, if you ever have the opportunity to see James Lecesne perform solo, I can assure you it’s not something you would want to miss out on.