Bette Bourne as Quentin Crisp

Resident Alien

19 February 2002

Life, love and the twentieth century were all worthy subject matter for writer, eccentric and professional bohemian Quentin Crisp, who declaimed his wisdom from an infamously squalid bedsit in Manhattan and described himself as "one of the stately old homos of England."

Award-winning British writer Tim Fountain has brought the life and writings of Quentin Crisp to the stage in Resident Alien, an award-winning production that travels to Australia for both the 2002 Adelaide Festival of the Arts and the Sydney Gay+Lesbian Mardi Gras.

Toward the end of his life Crisp, who wrote The Naked Civil Servant in 1968, would describe himself on his income tax forms as a retired waif. He also once said that all he had to offer was his "unlimited availability." So when, 20 years ago, British cult theatre icon Bette Bourne asked Crisp if he was available to meet after a show, it came as no surprise that Crisp replied, "My dear, I am the most available person in the world."

Crisp is available even after death through the extraordinary performance of Bette Bourne (pronounced "Betty", like Bette Davis) in Resident Alien. The two were close friends and this intimacy is evident in the authenticity of Bourne's portrayal. He plays the man behind the mascara just as he was: deeply politicised, intelligent, immensely likeable and more than a little awe-inspiring.

- Fiona McFarlane