A Mark of infinite variety
0 Mark Watson digs deep to entertain us
it’s a noble failure, with some people inexplicably keen to share their bizarre toilet habits. More importantly for the purposes of this hour, it
allows Watson the opportunity to capitalise on his underused improvisational skills, as he proves himself adept at fielding the random contributions, picking them apart for nuggets of humour.
You suspect he’d probably do this crowd work all night, so enamoured is he of the concept. But there is also a cautionary tale in which he learns not to dismiss his mother’s local gossip. And he digs deep into his divorce and in particular the effect it has had on his relationship with his eight-year-old son.
Unafraid of painting himself in an unflattering light as he snaps at the boy, frets about his emotional intelligence and interpret his misbehaviour as being directed by his estranged wife, Watson conveys the supremacy of the stakes. Regardless, it doesn’t stop him from mischievously undermining his son’s school’s discipline procedure, proving that life hasn’t got so tough he can’t still be capable of laughing at its petty bureaucracy.
JAY RICHARDSON
Run ended.
Dangerously injured in a failed suicide attempt, Max hallucinates between sleep and wakefulness. While medical staff and his brother, Chris, try to get him to consent to life-saving procedures to deal with his brain injury, he is conversing with two figures from his imagination who bear some resemblance to Jesus and the Devil, and who offer him various baffling kinds of advice.
Sam Edmunds’s ambitious, surreal play for Chalk Line Theatre explores one man’s reaction to loss, and makes use of a wide-ranging palette of theatrical techniques. Though it is disjointed at times and somewhat uneven, there is much to like about the production and about the performances, led by Nick Young as Max.
In the end, Testament struggles to contain several ideas too many, and would benefit from greater clarity: what did happen in the car crash that preceded the suicide attempt? Who was to blame? However, the juxtaposition of two worlds – the immediate and frightening one of hospitals and medical procedures, and the absurdist realm of the free-wheeling mind – is a fruitful place for theatre, if the right balance can be found between inventiveness and control.
SUSAN MANSFIELD
Until today, 4:45pm.