Based on the true story of a man who emerges from the sea in a suit with amnesia, who then draws a picture of a piano and proves he can play as a virtuoso, Piano Man is a play about a female journalist who becomes caught up in the media frenzy surrounding this. As they say, truth is stranger than fiction and they could have added more interesting as well. The play follows the journalist as she tries to get a scoop, and the impact this has on her and her relationship with her boyfriend. The actors over-emphasised every speech and did not engage with each other or the audience. They seemed to be going through the motions without giving the characters any credibility. Their voices sounded like the voices of actors in a radio play, the visual experience seemed to add no depth to the story. The script itself was very mediocre, all of the characters seemed roughly carved out, and none seemed to have a unique voice, or appear real or original. There was a weak attempt at humour, which fell flat and did little to turn this into an engaging piece of theatre. The Piano Man is very curious, and has such potential for adaptation; however, I think for David Weedall to do the story justice, he should scrap this version and start again.
