Written and starring Gary McNair as himself, the narrator of the piece, and as the infamously terrible poet William Topaz McGonagall, the subject of his story. Written in consciously bad rhyming verse, in celebration of the poet's reputation, with additional characters performed by Brian James O'Sullivan, who also joined Simon Liddell in providing musical accompaniment. A one man play for three people.
With leaves of lettuce handed out to the audience prior to commencement, it was clearly going to be something a bit different. Very funny from the off, this is also a life story as tragedy. McGonagall's name has remained prominent, as McNair reminds us, for a "very, very long time", and is far better known than many of his more talented contemporaries. He's held up as an example of just how bad poetry can be, yet, as this story tells, his life also had positive inspirational elements to it as well.
The play takes us through McGonagall's upbringing, and his struggles to provide for his family when his trade becomes redundant. Despite his only notion of poetry being that it should rhyme, in some fashion or other, it became his chosen career, one he would follow for the rest of his life. The consequences might be funny to the outside observer, but McNair shows the wannabe poet to be a sympathetic and at times even admirable person, single minded in pursuit of his 'art', and survival, battling on through failure and humiliation.
More than the sum of it's parts, McNair's hilarious comedy is a strong reminder that we should be wary of how we judge those around us. A Play for Today.
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