JAMES THIERREE'S The Junebug Symphony is a dazzling mixture of stage crafts that includes mime, slapstick and physical comedy. By turns dark and hilarious, the circus-inspired theatre act, which opens tonight at the Academy for Performing Arts' Lyric Theatre, is a showcase for the many talents of the 28-year-old writer, director and star. It is inevitable then, that comparisons will be made with Thierree's grandfather - the silent movie legend and comic genius Charlie Chaplin. Talent, it would seem, is in the genes.
Thierree, however, says that while critics might draw comparisons, he doesn't. 'I go along with it,' he says. 'My show is very visual and there's pantomime and comic sides, but if I'd started thinking 'Oh my God, what are the connections to my grandfather?' I would have become a taxi driver or lawyer or something.'
He admits the connection can help garner publicity, but sees it as a double-edged sword. 'I never either use it or fight against it. It's a choice you have to make very quickly whether it [his relationship to Chaplin] will be a big weight. I'm fine with it. It's obvious people are curious about it, although it usually shifts the interest in not the best of ways.'
Thierree is reluctant to concede any influences or natural calling. At one point in The Junebug Symphony, he rollerblades across the stage playing the violin, evoking images of Chaplin as a waiter careering around on rollerskates during his lunchbreak in the actor's first comic short, The Rink (1916).
There would appear to be many such parallels, I suggest. 'Maybe you can say that, but I have no outside view,' insists Thierree with a been-here-said-that shrug of his shoulders. 'I've never seen the show. I live it from the inside and I don't ask myself those questions.'
But I am asking that question. 'Yes,' he replies, almost exasperated, 'but I can tell you I have never thought about it.' I decide not to mention his slight resemblance to Chaplin: those angular facial features, a dark look lurking deep in the eyes from certain angles and the wiry frizz of hair.
