The Man
Critical Ambition supported by GradCo.
No Sign Wine Bar
Tuesday 11th November 2014
Just the mere mention of a self-assessment tax form is
enough to send any self-employed person into a state of dread. Trawling through
a year’s worth of receipts, trying to decide what can legitimately be claimed
as a business expense, is not anyone’s idea of fun. For Ben this challenge is
even more difficult as every one of his receipts evokes memories from the past
year; some wonderful, some heartbreaking.
New, young company Critical Ambition are making their
stage debut with James Graham’s unconventional play The Man. At every performance the structure of the show will be
completely different. Ben’s receipts are distributed randomly to the audience before
the show, they then pass them to the young entrepreneur in any order they see
fit throughout proceedings. This presents a real challenge to actor Tom Myles,
playing Ben, but he navigates the unpredictable changes of mood with honestly
and with real warmth.
We learn that Ben is a twin, but as a child his twin was diagnosed
with an untreatable condition that makes extra bone grow in his tissue if he
ever injures himself. Fear of having the same condition has made Ben over cautious
and scared of living his life to the full.
He is an optimistic worrier and feels the need to call
the Inland Revenue helpline multiple times to check that he is doing the right
thing. He soon strikes up a touching friendship with call centre worker Lisa
(Holly Carpenter) who patiently guides him through his self-assessment. Although
a sparky actor, it somehow didn’t feel right to physically represent Lisa
onstage, especially as she was positioned on a balcony above Ben throughout the
whole play. It added an element of theatricality in what is otherwise a very
honest and real-life feeling show.
The play itself is masterfully constructed. Each
individual section gives the audiences clues to fit into the jigsaw puzzle of
the whole show. Slowly, facts are revealed that allow you to make sense of something
that was hinted at earlier. This production would be great to watch multiple times
to see how the changing order can change your perspective.
For such an unpredictable show the young company handled
it well. In an unconventional performance space and with limited tech they put
on a slick performance. I feel the production will go from strength to strength
as the performers get more used to the natural rhythm of the piece and begin to
fully trust that the show will be a success no matter what order the sections
are presented in.
Critical Ambition have chosen a fantastic show, the
humour and genuine emotion make Ben so endearing it would be impossible not to
enjoy the performance. They certainly have clear potential to make an impact on
the theatrical scene of South Wales and I will look forward to their next
production.
The
Man continues at No Sign Wine Bar until 13th
November and will then go on tour.
Tour
dates:
The
Gate Arts Centre, Cardiff
4th
Dec
Exeter
Pheonix
8th-10th
Dec
The
Old Red Lion Theatre, Islington
15th
Dec
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