Sinking Feeling in ‘Swimming to Cambodia’ Revival
Before Tuesday, Spalding Gray had not performed his most famous monologue, “Swimming to Cambodia,” since the late ‘80s. And it showed.
At UCLA’s Freud Playhouse Tuesday, Gray groped his way through the text almost as if he hadn’t looked at it, even for a quick review. His delivery was swimming in hesitation, marked by “uh”s and stammering sounds. At times, he appeared to be flipping through the pages, editing as he went.
For the record:
12:00 a.m. Feb. 23, 2002 FOR THE RECORD
Los Angeles Times Saturday February 23, 2002 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 A2 Desk 2 inches; 39 words Type of Material: Correction
Spalding Gray--Spalding Gray performed “Swimming to Cambodia” in three other venues in recent months before bringing it to UCLA this week. A review in Thursday’s Calendar Weekend incorrectly reported that his UCLA run was the first time he had performed it since the late 1980s.
He announced at the outset that UCLA had invited him to revive the piece and “in a way, I wish I hadn’t said yes, because I didn’t leave an opening in my life.” He then told about a recent trip to Ireland in which he was injured in a traffic accident, before finally returning to “Swimming to Cambodia.”
Why “Swimming to Cambodia” now? Going in, I guessed that Gray’s account of his experiences as an actor in Thailand shooting “The Killing Fields,” the 1984 film about the Cambodian genocide, would somehow link with post-Sept. 11 concerns. Sure enough, Gray included a couple of glancing references to recent events, as when he expanded a line about the “cloud of evil” that sometimes settles on cultures to refer not only to the Khmer Rouge’s Cambodia but also to such sites as Rwanda, Afghanistan and New York.
Still, Gray’s stories about having a minor role in a movie--and looking for transcendent fun in the Thai sex clubs and surf--seemed more trivial and more distanced from the horrors of the Khmer Rouge than they had in 1985. Perhaps this is because more recent horrors are so fresh in our minds.
Furthermore, Gray’s half-hearted performance made it hard to escape the feeling that he was simply going through the motions because he didn’t want to break his contract with UCLA.
In 1985, “Swimming to Cambodia” was magnetic. In its present state, the magnets are missing.
“Swimming to Cambodia,” UCLA Freud Playhouse, northeast corner of the campus, near Hilgard Avenue and Sunset Boulevard. Tonight-Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. Ends Sunday. $40. (310) 825-2101. Running time: 1 hour, 35 minutes.
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