Going Viral

Going Viral, written and performed by Daniel Bye, follows an imaginary outbreak of a highly contagious weeping virus spreading across the world, by you. It is an enthralling and intriguing piece of theatre, proving to be well crafted and intriguingly presented.

Bold and uncompromising

This one-man show is cross between storytelling, lecture and description, with the odd bit of audience interaction (mainly just questions, nothing to worry about) thrown in in good taste. It is presented as a factual story and asks you to imagine yourself as the ‘lead’. I don’t say hero, as this would-be protagonist is in fact rather heavily laden with blame and havoc. Though he argues for himself as acting the same way anyone else would, it is hard to believe that someone would be so reckless.

Bye does a good job of weaving this yarn and uses different techniques to keep us with him, clearly knowing his craft. The piece does need more pace, as quite a few times it feels drawn out and drags. Picking up the speed and ensuring some further script development could make this show a corker. Bye seems to have made a choice to give his character have physical twitches which don’t add anything to the story. Sometimes he over-acts or misses the mark in trying to convey an emotion. That being said, this work is bold and uncompromising and I would recommend giving it a watch.