AN ENGLISHMAN IN NEW YORK

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Dir: Richard Laxton, UK, 2008, video, 75min
Genre: Drama
Identity: Gay

Spearheaded by John Hurt’s commanding performance as Quentin Crisp, An Englishman In New York charts the later years of the pioneering author and performer. Crisp’s The Naked Civil Servant was a hit both as a book in 1972 and a movie three years later – which starred Hurt in his breakthrough role – and in 1981, at the age of 72, he was asked to perform in New York. His one-man show, How to Be A Happy Person, was an underground success, and he quickly became the toast of the NYC social scene, throwing out bon-mots and words of wisdom with abandon.

The gay scene was flourishing, an era of celebration that was soon to be quelled by the onslaught of HIV-AIDS. While his performances were moved to bigger venues, Crisp’s steadfast personal policy of “never to lie, never to defend” was almost his undoing with his infamous line that “AIDS is a fad”. Dropped by his magazine editor, Crisp’s eyes were opened to the reality of the epidemic when a young fan, painter Patrick Angus, succumbed to the disease. However, his fame was not over – in fact far from it. In the late ‘90s avant-garde artist Penny Lane, played by Sex and the City’s Cynthia Nixon joined Crisp on-stage for a series of shows that brilliantly displayed this remarkable icon’s formidable talents. (PT)

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