Once a cause célèbre for its brutal subject matter, Phillip Ridley’s electrifying Mercury Fur is celebrating its tenth year with considerably more acceptance at the New Group. One of the play’s stars, Jack DiFalco, plays Darren, an innocent in a dystopia that is anything but. We sat down and talked with him about his role and the world of the play; he was even kind enough to lend us some insight into the notoriously slippery title.

Your character, Darren, has maybe the fullest arc for me in the play--definitely the biggest reversal. He goes from a place of approval-seeking to agency in close-to-real time. What’s it like to play that?

It’s definitely challenging. It’s one of the most difficult parts that I’ve had the opportunity to play and have fun with. But it’s interesting. He has an interesting arc because he goes from being very dependent on his brother [Elliot, Zane Pais] to later on being the one in charge and needing to man up and assert himself.

Having come of age in this post-apocalypse, where murder parties serve as entertainment, Darren’s also our entrée into another one of the world’s issues: an addiction to ”butterflies”, a kind of drug. Where do you go to when you play that?

What it is for me, to get in to Darren the character, is he has a very innocent nature. He sees the good in things, he sees the good in people and I really believe that the reason why he does these trips is not only because other people are doing it or because it’s a commonplace thing but also because it helps him forget, or understand or bring him to a better place than he is now. It helps him fit in.

At the same time this purity is counterpointed with this violence that rose up around him. His favorite butterfly, for instance, is one that places him in a political assassination fantasy.

I think in a way it makes him feel intelligent. Just because he understands the assassination to a degree. I also believe that that is just the thing that turns people on in that era now. Because even the party guest is “well it’s not real flesh, it’s not real blood.” That’s just the fantasy that people have. The Kennedy assassination and the reason he goes there, that may be something that he saw on TV or something that he’d heard of. And just the fact that it had two women involved.

Right, his understanding is Jackie and Marilyn were there in Dallas.

That’s enough for him.

The violence is sexualized. The women in this world are interesting. We have a trans character (Lola, played by Paul Iacono) and then the only other woman that we really see is quite a bit older than everyone else on stage. And it’s heavily implied she has some greater significance to you. I got the sense watching it that there may not be that many women around.

We talked about it a lot and what we drummed up and what we came up with was that there probably aren’t that many women left or around. And it paints that in the parties that we throw. We might not just do murdering parties. There might be rape fantasy parties or that might be a bunch of different sick, sick things that people just want to do and I believe that a lot of it might have revolved around women. I think the reason why the Duchess [Emily Cass McDonnell] is such a jewel and a gem is that she is one of the last survivors. She was saved in the beginning.

She’s from the old world. The title she’s given is kind of evocative of that.  The world of the play itself has changed here, in that the original production premiered in London and was set in East London. Here all the local references are changed to New York for the New Group. How involved was Philip Ridley in that? Were there other productions that have transplanted the location?

Yeah! It was also actually done in Japan as well where they also changed the locations and stuff. And Phil’s been on board with us, unfortunately he hasn’t been physically around just because his mother is ill and he’s spending time with her, but we’ve had constant contact with him. Scott [Elliot, the director of Mercury Fur and Artistic Director of the New Group] had worked with him directly into adapting the script to make more sense if we brought it here. And really what we did was we just changed the locations and we left everything, all the context the same.

Was that the plan from day one?

No! Actually during auditions we all went in with cockney accents. And that’s originally what it was going to be, it was going to stay in East End London, but, last minute we were like “No, y’know, let’s bring the fear of it from London and put it in everyone’s backyard and stick it right here in New York.” And to me that was just a brilliant idea, I mean, it was challenging, but it was definitely brilliant.

What’s your favorite moment to play on stage?

I guess that one of my favorite moments is when I discover Naz [Tony Revolori] and I find a friend finally in my life (and by mine I mean Darren’s). I find that moment so touching and so real. The love is just so apparent there. It’s not about hurting each other it’s just innocence and it’s just fun and exciting and allows the audience to laugh. And you really kinda see what these people are going through through this scene and I think it’s a very interesting and complex scene.

For me that relationship is so key. It feels like his presence informs everything you do from that point on.

Every time we add another character to the stage it adds another element. Just a little bit more happens, another problem arises. Naz, for me isn’t a problem, he’s kind of a helping hand which drives me to the end of why I’m so confused about what’s happening—I don’t want to give that away but…

Right, Naz is such an innocent and that for me explains why Elliot doesn’t want him involved in this party.

I completely agree with you.

I want to ask about the title of the play. It’s a bit of a cipher. Do you or the cast have any pet theories?

It’s actually very interesting, actually because Phillip Ridley always has these cryptic titles. We actually reached out to him to see what his true meaning of it was and it really pans out to be: “Mercury” is the God of Words and fur is your base coat and it’s what you’re wrapped in and throughout the entire show all we do is wrap ourselves in these stories and all these words and that’s kind of are protective layer which essentially is what fur is. So that’s what it means.

Wow. So tell me, do you have anything else to add or plug?

The only thing I have to add to is my absolute excitement just to be working with the New Group and the people that I’m getting a chance to work with and learn from and add to. It’s one of those shows where you need a team and what I’ve found throughout this cast is we really have a team if not a family and that’s really what makes the show what it is. For a lot of people coming to the theatre sometimes a lot of actors are just like, this is their day job and they feel that’s what that is. But for us we hang out together, we really get to know each other we find that bond.

A good bond to have on your debut!

This is my New York debut! My first big thing in New York. I come from a place called Stormville, it’s far upstate, it’s near Brewster kind of in Hopewell Junction area. There’s not a whole lot of professional theatre.

Was there anything about entering this New York pool that surprised you?

I honestly didn’t realize how much I’d learn from it and the people I’d be working with and the brilliant minds that are just a part of the world and I’d be able to meet. Y’know take things from performances. And it’s so unbelievably exciting.

Mercury Fur runs until September 27^th at the Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre at the Pershing Square Signature Center.