Yo My Man, Corpus Playroom, 26th-30th January
**
If Angela Liu really meant her whispered “I feel…alive” (finally breaking the BORING silence of the first 5 minutes of this BORING show) I wished she’d shown it. I’ve wrestled with myself for ages about how I felt about this production and, as you can see, I’ve finally decided to be ANGRY about being so BORED. Good. Finally these emotions have computed. Now back to my breakfast of bitches and steak.
For those of you still reading this review – those of you who take pleasure in paying £5 to be BORED – here’s what ‘Yo My Man’ is about. ‘Beethoven’ awakes on a bench and is pestered for about 20 minutes by ‘Rollo’. Both have undergone some misfortune that we’re supposed to care about and have embarked upon separate journeys to ‘find’ themselves. Some other shit happens – more people come in and leave and then the play ends. The end. Goodbye. BORED NOW?
If you’re STILL reading this review you must be interested in finding some nugget of textual or dramatic criticism. I applaud your efforts. You are not the sort of person easily BORED. I don’t want to do Beckett the disrespect of naming the play that William Stuart has ripped off here. As a friend pointed out to me in the bar afterwards, at least Vladimir and Estragon were waiting for something, but no, that’s too ‘cliché’ for Stuart. “Imagine”, he muses over his pipe and cognac in my mind, “if Godot was never mentioned…and it was just the…you know…stuff”. Somewhere along the line no-one said, “Stop Will. This is shit!” What we’re left with is a slow-burning character narrative centred on an individual with no purpose, played by a performer with little or no stage-presence. The stilted script really jarred during moments of introspection that sat in sharp relief against the frankly slapstick ‘comedy’ that we’d been subjected to in previous 20 minutes. These moments were lifted straight from the ‘character development’ chapter of a GCSE drama textbook. This really was so so poorly written.
Ok, so, if you’re STILL reading this review you must be a cast member in that case I’ll make this section a little more constructive. Note the TWO stars. The set was simplistic but the individual pieces were excellent, the trunk and the bench in particular creating a contrasting aesthetic to the leafy scenery of the garden. The lighting too was adequate; changes were minimal and used well to maintain a continuity of action. One-time Lara Croft Kat Griffiths was a godsend, the one stand-out performer with the energy and charisma to command a stage. However, in a desperate attempt to eek some more ‘comedy’ from the ridiculously dry script, she had been directed to identify herself as a ‘business [look at boobs] man’.
Transit Gloria Mundi.
If, after all of this, you’re not a cast member and are STILL reading this frankly shocking review, you must be very BORED and probably the sort of person who wouldn’t mind seeing this show. I salute you but I really don’t want to know you.
I saw this tonight – with some trepidation after reading this review. Turns out it wasn't as bad as you make out: baffling, certainly, but I thought all the actors actually did a good job. I thought Kat Griffiths (clearly a very talented actor) and Adam McNally were very funny. Their humour contrasted nicely with Angela Liu's introverted Beethoven. I think I saw her in another (funnier!) Shadwell Society comedy last term and she was very good. I agree that there was a lot of rapid changes in pace and mood and it all made for very odd watching, but not bad…just…odd.
PS. I'm not quite sure what you mean by "business [look at boobs] man"? I must have missed that bit.
Mr Blyth's description of this as a "frankly shocking review" is a little harsh, though admittedly it's not his best work.
I had low expectations of the play myself, simply because I don't think I've ever seen a good student-penned play in Cambridge, so I was taken aback by its charm and quirkiness. Angela Liu I thought was particularly good, a reserved performance but one that nevertheless held the attention. If it has to be compared to Godot, of course one can't expect that kind of achievement from such a young writer – though one finds it occasionally – but at least this play has the virtue of brevity. It didn't outstay its welcome, whereas Godot is inclined to drag.
saw this… literally the biggest waste of my time ever. god damn awful.
If the reviewer ever learns to write a tenth as well as the author of the play, he might gain some of my respect. If he ever learns an ounce of sensitivity, he might learn to value that.
Ben Blyth seems to have some personal vendetta against the playwright and actors, as this review is very extreme in its comments.
I thought that the play was unusual and interesting, and the actors performed their parts well; Angela Liu captured the character of Beethoven wonderfully.
All in all, a good production which I would recommend others to see.
Ben is legendary for his personal vendettas. In fact for even speaking out he may well give me a good thrashing next time I see. I didn't even want to publish this review but he smashed his glass on the bar and starting drawling at me in what seemed to be a largely invented language when I suggested this to him.
We all live under the shadow of Ben's tyranny I'm afraid. If you want support at any time don't hesitate to contact me.