James Barr: Sorry I Hurt Your Son (Said My Ex to My Mum)
directed by James Barr, Maddie Parry
Underbelly Bristo Square, Buttercup • Fringe 2024 ★★★★
Chatty and relatable, James Barr launches as a stand-up routine with jokes that perhaps don't land as hilariously as he expects them to. And he quickly begins to deepen things considerably, revealing that this is actually a confessional one-man show about the lingering trauma of being abused by someone he loved. It's a bold piece that finds laughter in unexpected places, often of the nervous variety. But Barr's charming presence makes it both entertaining and urgent.
At the start, he boasts about how many men he has slept with, hoping the straight guys in the audience aren't shocked (or maybe jealous) about such a big number. But he reminds us that he has always been looking for love, and he thought he found it with his unnamed ex, living together for two years and adopting both a dog and a zoo flamingo together. And his mother loved him. But while Barr maintained his bright personality on morning radio and various TV appearances, the truth was that his boyfriend was violently attacking him.
"You have to laugh to heal," Barr notes, continually cycling back to his close relationship with his mother, with whom he shares a love for men. Yes, his gallows punchlines are witty and pointed, especially his story about healing in a Berlin sex club. Along the way, he makes important comments about how staying silent about abuse protects the attackers. He also digs into childhood trauma, cycles of violence and feelings of guilt. Yes, behind the comedy this is serious stuff, and it's so raw and honest that it can't help but be moving as well. In the end, we want to give him a hug.
Rachel Kaly: Hospital Hour
Pleasance Courtyard, Bunker Two • Fringe 2024 ★★★★
With her tiny physicality and nonstop patter, Rachel Kaly has a disarmingly engaging presence on stage. She immediately begins talking about the things that are wrong with her, starting with the simple fact of her birth before leading into a complex exploration of mental illness issues she has dealt with both in herself and, mainly, her estranged father. So the show feels confessional and almost unnervingly raw. And she's such a great storyteller that it's also hilarious.
Feeling like a stream of consciousness, her script is carefully constructed to carry the audience through a series of momentous events in her life. And aside from her parental issues, she isolates witnessing 9/11 from her New York home at age 6 as a spark that brought out her inner paranoias and obsessions, ironically turning her into someone who terrorised her siblings. This leads into knowing explorations of anxiety and depression that have a remarkable mix of witty punchlines and dark emotions.
She uses a video screen to reveal key messages and images, leading to a climactic moment during which she uses the audience to help her draft an email to her dad. Everything has an offhanded tone, and her comical beats are often amusingly surreal as they play with issues that are extremely close to the bone. So the show itself feels like yet another form of therapy for Kaly, who describes the full range of treatments she has endured over the years. "I thought this show would be cathartic," she says hopefully. "But it's not," she adds with a smile.
The Ghost of White Hart Lane
with Cal Newman
written and directed by Martin Murphy
Underbelly Bristo Square, The Dairy Room • Fringe 2024 ★★★★
This one-man show recounts a well-known true story about a famous father and his son, offering remarkable insight into both men. It's strongly written by Martin Murphy (based on Rob White's bestselling memoir), perhaps even overwritten as it challenges the audience to keep up with its fractured timeline, splintering anecdotes and detailed personal observations. But even if it sometimes fees rather wordy, it connects vividly with audiences thanks to a fascinating, moving and impressively performance by Cal Newman.
It's a seriously demanding one too, featuring a wide range of characters who come to life through vocal and physical quirks. At the centre is Scottish footballer John White, who rose to stardom in the early 1960s playing for Tottenham Hot Spurs, after the Glasgow Rangers told him he was too slight. After leading his team to triumphant championships, the nation was stunned by his sudden death at age 27, struck by lightning on a golf course. Only 5-months-old at the time, his son Rob grew up wondering who his father was, feeling it was apt that his nickname as a player was the Ghost.
Newman goes full-out with this performance, bringing out the athleticism, humour and darker emotions that pull the audience in deeply. Set around an old suitcase of objects in the attic, all Rob has ever known about his dad, the show is sharply well directed with a compelling range of action beats and telling insight into the connections between fathers and sons. In this case, a boy only knows his dad through his larger-than-life heroic image. But of course this play reveals his humanity as well.
