Lock up your wives, mothers and daughters, for the most romantic rogue of them all strolls into the Fortune Theatre tomorrow, and he's a man on a mission.
Nigel Benson meets Don Juan.
It's not often a play comes with a warning about its adult themes.
But then, Don Juan in Soho is no ordinary play.
"Spend the night with one of the world's greatest lovers," the publicity croons darkly.
Don Juan in Soho is English playwright Patrick Marber's contemporary take on the 1665 classic Don Juan or Le Festin de Sierre (The Feast with the Statue ) by French playwright Moliere (Jean-Baptiste Poquelin).
It is a modern and deviant twist on a salacious old tale.
The backdrop is modern-day Soho, in London, where the licentious scamp romps about, wreaking heartache and havoc.
Women want to kiss him. Men want to kill him.
As Don Juan (played by Aaron Alexander) himself concedes: "I know what I am and I understand it. I'm a child; a creature of wont. I choose this life and I own it and no-one owns me.
"Free will - it's the only thing we all have and the only thing worth having. And most of us deny we have it at all."
Don Juan's sidekick, Stan Gavin (played by Gavin Rutherford), keeps track of the Lothario's conquests (5000 and counting at time of going to press) on a Blackberry PDA.
"My character lives vicariously through Don Juan. I'm his butler, his chauffeur, his bodyguard and `the enabler of his lifestyle', as he puts it," Mr Rutherford says.
"I also do a lot of asides to the audience. I warn them: `Don't be charmed by him'. But they still get sucked into the situation." He rolls his eyes.
"Don Juan is so horribly destructive. Yet he's a drug to those around him. He's an addictive force, because he's so shocking and exciting to the people around him. But honesty without empathy is very destructive.
"A lot of it is about the modern face of ego. Blogs, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube and things like that. How everyone is a superstar in their own head; and the banality of communication.
"It's very contemporary and it's dealing with very sexy themes. It's one for the boys. Ladies should definitely bring their husbands along," he smiles.
"It's Don Juan set in Soho, London, but it follows the basic structure of the old play. It's hilarious, but bitterly hilarious. The antics Don Juan gets up to are shocking in nature. There's prostitutes and drug use. There's comic violence and slapstick.
"There's even a scene in the hospital ward that I've never seen anything like in a theatre before, where everyone gets involved in a large brawl.
"Don Juan is decadent and hedonistic, but he's also honest to the point of fault with his self-indulgence. He has no empathy with the women and men he destroys along the way. But, eventually, he gets his comeuppance."
The 36-year-old Wellington actor recently appeared in Le Sud in the Southern Lakes Festival of Colour in Wanaka.
He last performed at the Fortune in the 2006 production of Cinderella.
Don Juan in Soho premiered at the Donmar Warehouse Theatre, in London, in 2006.
Marber uses the Don Juan legend to rip the bedcovers off hypocrisy, by exploring the culture of our modern celebrity society, where the impotent and anonymous desperately claw their way towards fame and validation.
Marber's Don Juan is a relentless sex addict, indifferent to the destruction he creates.
Yet, there is sympathy for his audacity and a reluctant admiration for his arrogance, as he wholeheartedly pursues his pleasures.
"We live in an age of hypocrisy," Marber warns. "Don't confuse it with authenticity."
Wellington director Ross Jolly describes the play as "filthy, furious and gloriously funny".
"This is raucous, risible, relevant theatre and I commend [the Fortune Theatre's] gutsy choice," he said.
"The play is blackly funny in a chilling way. It demands our attention and whacks us around the ears.
"It is existential and ethereal - and that will be reflected in the simple set design and lighting which is set dark to emphasise the intercourse of the actors."
Don Juan features Aaron Alexander, Gavin Rutherford, Simon O'Connor, Alex Greig, Jeff Kingsford-Brown, Mark Neilson, Allan Henry, Amy Tarleton and Claire Dougan, while Dunedin actor Tansy Hayden will make her professional acting debut in the play, after recently graduating from Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School in Wellington.
Ms Hayden is the daughter of Dunedin actor, writer and producer Peter Hayden, who appeared in New Zealand films Illustrious Energy and Footrot Flats.
Catch it
Don Juan in Soho opens at the Fortune Theatre tomorrow and runs until June 20.
The Fortune will be hosting free tours of the theatre between 1pm and 2pm on Sunday.
