Due to popular demand, writer / director / actor Malcolm Tulip's latest drama, "Down the Plughole," returns to Performance Network to explore the depths of guilt, grief, death and life that lay at the bottom of a bathtub.
This one-man show that deals with the death of a child and the survival of her father, originally ran for two weeks at Performance Network during April of this year. Audiences not only deemed the drama gripping and hypnotic, but pressured Performance Network to bring "Down the Plughole" back for another run. "It goes from immediate everyday moments to almost poetic miracle moments. For some people it was almost one big poem," Tulip said in a recent interview with The Michigan Daily.
"Down the Plughole" explores death, but with a slightly skewed format. "It begins with an ending in a way. It begins with a man coming from the funeral of his girl. He comes back to his house in the bathroom where his child died and locks himself in and declares that he is never going to leave. The rest of the play is him having a dialogue with himself, with his present and future to try and determine whether he is actually going to stay in there or whether he'll be able to leave or not," Tulip said.
Tulip plays John Jellicoe as a man at the extreme of his emotions. He not only feels grief over the death of his child, but also a great amount of guilt. This guilt stems from his daughter's accidental drowning in the bathtub just moments after his first ever spanking of her.
Although his play deals with the painful issue of death, Tulip insists that "Down the Plughole" is not morbid and even includes some humorous elements. "It's not about the death. It's about the survival afterwards," Tulip said. "It's about finding hope, it's about finding a way to move on. It's not about dwelling in the event. It's about reaching out forward for hand-holds."
The play's universal themes of death and grief will eventually touch every potential audience member if they have not already in the past. In addition, many of these people can also relate to the feelings of guilt involved. "I'm sure everyone, when someone dies, has something that they wish they had done - that they hadn't done," Tulip said.
Along with the emotions felt by Jellicoe, Tulip also adds to the realistic nature of "Down the Plughole" through another format twist. Tulip has created eight different possible endings to the drama. "Even though I enjoy performing the whole thing immensely, it keeps it alive through the evening not knowing exactly how it's going to end," Tulip said. "I think by leaving it open and keeping it wordless, it makes me more sensitive to the particular audience that particular evening or to John Jellicoe's mood that particular evening."
While presenting the show in a realistic manner, Tulip examines how life and death are intertwined. He critiques, in a sense, this society's way of dealing with death. Tulip finds that many other cultures celebrate the passing of life. This society, however, does not deal with death very well, which can make death even more painful that it needs to be.
"My mother died many years ago and I guess what I am doing in my theater is what I wish I had done then. You shout about it, sing about it, rip your clothes - all the dramatic things you see in films when people die," Tulip said. "You say, 'Oh, I'd never do that in real life or people would look.'"
According to Tulip, the audience will view "Down the Plughole" as a catharsis and a journey of self discovery that will continue even after the play ends. He feels this life drama can and should reach all people. "Whatever doors can be opened, you should do that, even if you don't know why you're opening that door. You don't know until you've opened it what you're going to get from it. It's about life."
Malcolm Tulip goes down the plughole.