Synopsis

Rupert Lindsay is a 32-year-old actor who is desperate to succeed, but whose efforts are undermined by what he imagines to be an anger problem. The sedatives he takes prevent his uncontrolled outbursts, but they also dull his performances. That's why he's had no medication for 36 hours when an arrogant young director provokes him at an audition. A wildly angry personality breaks out of Rupert and wreaks havoc. When his agent hears about his outburst and fires him, Rupert realises he has to do something about his self-destructive behaviour. He consults a psychotherapist called Angus, who tries to delve into Rupert's heavily defended psyche. Angus sees three different personalities in his new client and knows it's going to take time to help Rupert find a better way of dealing with them. Then Rupert gets a break. He auditions for the lead role in 'The Fatal Blasphemy of Jeremiah Ulysses's Boundless Rage', a previously unknown play by Christopher Marlowe that tells the story of a Puritan who takes his rage at God out on his wife until a final reckoning with his Maker aboard a ship bound for the New World. A well-known actor has just pulled out, and his replacement will have to go straight into dress rehearsals with Tamsin Hollonby, the famous 'Queen of Method'. The production is helmed by Geoffrey Morton, a failed film director hoping to salvage his career with the first new Marlowe play for 400 years. When Rupert's angry self explodes into life at the audition, Morton is convinced he's discovered the unbridled rage the part demands and that consequently he is on his way to theatrical success. He signs Rupert on the spot. Rupert's emotional confusion at being actively encouraged to display the anger he's been trying to avoid is compounded by the production's makeup artist, Stevie. The combination of Stevie's attractiveness and her easy acceptance of how weird actors can be further provokes Rupert's multiple personalities. Three distinct identities now vie for control of Rupert's life, and each is unaware of the other two. Rupert's parental identity and his sexual identity both very much want Stevie, though in radically different ways. But his angry self, whose unbridled rage is crucial to the success of the play and the realisation of his dream, sees her as a threat and is determined to push her away. As opening night rapidly approaches, Rupert is increasingly torn. His emotional world becomes more and more chaotic with hilarious and heart-breaking consequences. Meanwhile, his psychotherapist struggles to help him accept the truth about himself, which threatens to undermine the rage he needs to deliver a convincing performance and make his dream come true.

Rupert Lindsay is a 32-year-old actor who is desperate to succeed, but whose efforts are undermined by what he imagines to be an anger problem. The sedatives he takes prevent his uncontrolled outbursts, but they also dull his performances. That's why he's had no medication for 36 hours when an arrogant young director provokes him at an audition. A wildly angry personality breaks out of Rupert and wreaks havoc. When his agent hears about his outburst and fires him, Rupert realises he has to do something about his self-destructive behaviour. He consults a psychotherapist called Angus, who tries to delve into Rupert's heavily defended psyche. Angus sees three different personalities in his new client and knows it's going to take time to help Rupert find a better way of dealing with them. Then Rupert gets a break. He auditions for the lead role in 'The Fatal Blasphemy of Jeremiah Ulysses's Boundless Rage', a previously unknown play by Christopher Marlowe that tells the story of a Puritan who takes his rage at God out on his wife until a final reckoning with his Maker aboard a ship bound for the New World. A well-known actor has just pulled out, and his replacement will have to go straight into dress rehearsals with Tamsin Hollonby, the famous 'Queen of Method'. The production is helmed by Geoffrey Morton, a failed film director hoping to salvage his career with the first new Marlowe play for 400 years. When Rupert's angry self explodes into life at the audition, Morton is convinced he's discovered the unbridled rage the part demands and that consequently he is on his way to theatrical success. He signs Rupert on the spot. Rupert's emotional confusion at being actively encouraged to display the anger he's been trying to avoid is compounded by the production's makeup artist, Stevie. The combination of Stevie's attractiveness and her easy acceptance of how weird actors can be further provokes Rupert's multiple personalities. Three distinct identities now vie for control of Rupert's life, and each is unaware of the other two. Rupert's parental identity and his sexual identity both very much want Stevie, though in radically different ways. But his angry self, whose unbridled rage is crucial to the success of the play and the realisation of his dream, sees her as a threat and is determined to push her away. As opening night rapidly approaches, Rupert is increasingly torn. His emotional world becomes more and more chaotic with hilarious and heart-breaking consequences. Meanwhile, his psychotherapist struggles to help him accept the truth about himself, which threatens to undermine the rage he needs to deliver a convincing performance and make his dream come true.