Review by Julian Hall

In Sexual Metro Alexis Dubus valiantly attempts to string together a number of short sets for his Gallic creation, agent provocateur and bon viveur, Marcel Lucont. It doesn’t quite work but it’s fun watching him try.

There are a number of flaws with the character of Lucont, other than the deliberate ones. For example, he demonstrates clichéd Parisian attitudes yet he’s not a Parisian. This is largely so that Dubus can facilitate some material on the city, including a nice irony about detesting arrogance. More importantly, Dubus doesn’t have the confidence to make Lucont the monster he needs to be. I am reminded of Miles Jupp’s previous character work as an aristocratic snob as a benchmark here.

Maybe there is something lost in translation but, while it’s true that you can detect the slight strain of this façade holding, it cannot be denied that Dubus gives Lucont some great lines that bring his misanthropy, misogyny and nihilism into focus. Meanwhile, he whips up the necessary measure of a ‘love-you, hate-you’ response in his female audience members, while for the boys there are dancing girls.

The dancers are one of the brief elements that Lucont throws in to vary the set, along with a couple of songs (including one about the sad state of English towns) and a lengthy tale read from the Frenchman’s latest tome. There’s still a lack of cohesion and illusion to the show but it is definitely heading in a direction that suggests Lucont can mature like the red wine and cheese he is so fond of.

Review date: 17 Aug 2009
Reviewed by: Julian Hall