This is certainly not a light hearted show. The protagonist could not have been less endearing if he’d tried, an early reference to his twelve year old self masturbating immediately put his audience in an uncomfortable position. This continued as his persona was littered with abrasion toward women and there was a deep seated quality of unease that shone through his personality.
This play was nothing if not memorable.
Spending eighty percent of the show feeling unimpressed by such an unappealing character, could have been down to poor writing as the acting was virtually faultless but then it all changed. The revelation at the end was so brilliantly concealed it made this unusual character profiling justified.
This revelation may have completed the entire performance but it might be ill advised to leave your audience questioning the quality of the show for so long. The unease lingered a little too long to make the ending wholly satisfying but awarding credit where its due, we certainly didn’t predict what was coming.
There were no excuses or apologies for the young man’s behaviour, he was a loner who found solace in gaming and his animosity toward women seemed to be deep seated and thankfully, never really blamed on the females he describes through his encounters. Unlucky in love yes but that didn’t excuse his sociopathic behaviour and this was conveyed well in the piece.
Unfortunately, when the actor did falter he wasn’t relaxed enough to make it seem as though it was just a stutter or an awkward speech pattern. He’d learned his lines a little too perfectly to make him believable. However, he did captivate, although negatively, throughout and the narrative was well conveyed. The way he jumped between telling a story and impersonating his younger self was effective and you could see his persona mature as the timeline of the plot ticked along.
This play was nothing if not memorable. It was disturbing and highlighted the undesirable traits that could cause someone to do great harm but without revealing what was arguably the best part of the show, there is very little that can be said about the build-up.
