Richard Fry begins with a big smile and tells us how he loves them and how they light up the world. In this production he is a guy who has had a tough life, abandoned as a baby, subsequently being abused, and seeing himself as a loser. But this show is not for a moment downbeat, as the energy and caring of the character carries us along together with the humour and the demands of this rhymed one-man show. This very uplifting show tells a platonic love story between two men. One the narrator with a damaged past, the other the titular Smiler, who has been brain-damaged in an accident and now in a wheelchair. The two become inseparable and share very many of their lives pleasures together. Fry conveys with great warmth and panache the ups and downs of the relationship, and Smilers mother is a well-conveyed extra character.Life, however, is difficult for Smiler. The tragedy of his life is a big burden, no matter how positive a gloss his friend puts on it. These two guys really need each other what is the most that one will be prepared to do for the other? See this show, enjoy the strength of Richard Frys writing and performance, experience how the most unlikely relationships can be deeply fulfilling and be inspired.
