Every Day I Wake Up Hopeful

Filled with humour and sorrow, Every Day I Wake Up Hopeful is a play about a man who is considering throwing in the towel. Comedian Christian Talbot gives an excellent solo performance as Malachy, who has not been handed a particularly good hand in life. Talbot executes the misery of the character perfectly (his gloomy expressions are spot on), but there are occasional moments where he seems to lose focus slightly and looks uncomfortable onstage. However, the performance as a whole is really admirable; both highly emotive and very funny at parts.

There is a huge amount of potential in the piece and with a little tweak and a little polish, it could be a really incredible piece of theatre.

The piece is well-written. John Patrick Higgins does well to entwine comedy and tragedy as smoothly as he does and writes in a refreshing and clever way. It is a piece of balances and opposites: the comedy and the tragedy, the ups and the downs, the hope and the despair, and Higgins’ does well to not let this go stale throughout the piece. The show could benefit from a slightly bigger change of mood from beginning to end, as it feels rather samey. The audience sympathise and laugh with Malachy, but they are robbed of any emotional journey.

Every Day I Wake Up Hopeful is an incredibly good piece of work that seems contemplative in itself and forces contemplation onto its audience. Talbot fits the role well and manages to engage the audience from start to finish. The writing and the performance flow really nicely together and manage to capture the audience despite the lack of real drama. There is a huge amount of potential in the piece and with a little tweak and a little polish, it could be a really incredible piece of theatre.