Written by John Patrick Higgins, this is a one man play featuring Irish stand-up Christian Talbot. He plays Malachy, a middle aged man in crisis. A life lived without making waves, unremarkable professionally and personally. He's experienced tragedy though, and feels he's had enough. He'd end it all, if it wasn't for hope.
Despite the dark subject matter there are a lot of laughs in the excellent script with some memorable lines throughout. Talbot certainly looks the part, but maybe he's adopted Malachy's underachieving persona a bit too enthusiastically because the performance lacks emotional range and doesn't fully reach the blackness at the heart of the character's situation. That said, it's still an enjoyable hour and it would be a hard hearted audience member who didn't feel some twinge of recognition in Malachy's dilemma. Talbot's ability to extract the humour from the lines has made me want to see his stand up show too.
Every Day I Wake Up Hopeful is on at Sweet Grassmarket until 28 August.
No comments:
Post a Comment