Writer: Simon Perrott
Director: Gerald Armin
15-year-old Mark, like many teenagers, is filled with anxiety. He hasn’t found his place in the world, feels isolated, unloved and alone. He’s coming to terms with his emerging sexuality, though he’s not sure what that is: ‘How do I know I’m gay if I’ve never seen a vagina?’, he muses desperately. Worst of all, Mark is suicidal.
Life, in all its complex and varied elements, is crushingly tough for Mark (Jamie Kaye). Bullied relentlessly at school, hating his twin sister, ambivalent to his parents, and truly friendless, his mind rages with thoughts that swing wildly from the profound to the horny and sometimes to the dangerously suicidal. With no one he can turn to, he vocalises his innermost thoughts by talking to a framed photo of Graham Norton. Graham listens to people for a living and, according to Mark’s mother, is a kind man, so he’s the perfect person to unload upon… even if he exists only as a silent photograph.
In In Conversation With Graham Norton, writer Simon Perrott has crafted a brutally honest and unflinching look at a young man struggling with his life. It is a tender and emotional exposé that is often very funny and deeply engaging, never shying away from the darker corners of adolescent despair whilst maintaining a lightness of touch that keeps the audience invested. The script walks a delicate tightrope between humour and heartbreak, and does so with remarkable assurance.
Jamie Kaye plays Mark pitch perfectly, flitting from the funny to the profound and increasingly to the desperate with seamless precision. This is a one-man show, and he holds court majestically, keeping the audience on a knife’s edge as to whether a comment he makes is a joke or something deeper and more sinister. His performance is raw, vulnerable and utterly compelling.
As Mark becomes ever more comfortable unburdening himself to Graham, his thoughts become increasingly honest and his self-reflection more revelatory. We watch as the layers peel back, exposing wounds both fresh and old. Gerald Armin’s direction frames the unfurling narrative strongly, preventing it from becoming overly dramatic or mawkish, and gives Kaye the space to fully embody Mark and draw in the audience with an intimacy that feels almost uncomfortably real.
In Conversation With Graham Norton is a very confident piece of theatre that encompasses more in an hour than many shows do in three. It’s smart, touching, and brutally honest; a powerful reminder of the struggles many young people face in silence. It deserves an hour of anybody’s time.
Runs until 30 November 2025
