Writer: Theo Hristov
Director: Rebeka Dió
An actor all alone on a bare stage: when there’s nothing else to look at or listen to, then strange pronunciation, or a restricted palette of gestures that includes jumping and grabbing invisible stuff out of the air, becomes very consequential indeed. Theo Hristov casts himself as the protagonist of Theo Hristov’s short play, so he is probably aware of the shortcomings, but it doesn’t make for the most comfortable hour of theatre.
Liam is the child of immigrants who settle in New Jersey in the 90s, when New Jersey was apparently very buzzy. He discovers acting and falling for actresses at the same time, and embarks on a career of mashing up relationships and getting progressively better acting jobs. And getting out of his head on whatever the drug du jour might be. Snorted paracetamol recently, it seems.
There is always a note of caution to be sounded when a play makes acting its subject. Self-indulgent story-telling is unbecoming, and this piece certainly has a fair chunk of self-indulgence. The character depicted, albeit going through a turbulent emotional phase, is extraordinarily unattractive – he leaves a string of one-night-stands in his wake, he takes astonishingly little care of the dog he has contracted to look after in exchange for free accommodation, and he talks about his acting talent without displaying much of it. The ending involves a moment of self-reflection as the hero begins a possible relationship with a starry actress, and a long concerned phone call from his agent, who has concerns for her client above and beyond the usual. So that’s nice.
Finally, the biggest problem the piece has is the acting limitations of Theo Hristov. There is intense scrutiny on a solo actor. His ability to withstand such scrutiny is highly debatable. He gets lots of gold stars for having the courage to stand for judgement, a few for the writing, but not so many for the stage-skills. The Bitesize Festival is, however, designed to be a place to try new things. This is a new thing. Trying new things is always good.
Runs until 20 July 2022
