Writers: Michael Birch and Hervé Goffings
Performer: Hervé Goffings
Director: Michael Birch
Reviewer: Glen Pearce
There’s a strong sense of the autobiographical in this year’s Pulse Festival, and Michael Birch and Hervé Goffing’s Hervé continues the theme.
The tale of a French-African, born in Mali but adopted at birth by a white Belgian couple, Hervé invites us to accompany him on a journey to find out who he is.
It’s a globe-trotting journey as the family move from Africa to France and then the UK. From his childhood with his step-brother Sebastian through military conscription and his return to his African roots, Herve is an adventurer seeking his own heritage.
Goffings is a personable performer, mixing comedy, dance and plenty of moonwalking to tell his complex tale.
That complexity though is somewhat of a hindrance to becoming compelling theatre. There’s a lot of material to cram into 70 minutes of a solo show and there’s more than one
There’s a lot of material to cram into 70 minutes of a solo show and there’s more than one occasion that the mind wanders and we become lost as to where we are. There’s not enough variation in Goffings portrayal of the large supporting cast of family and therefore it becomes difficult to identify who is who, something not helped by his native accent. It is an accent that Goffing admits himself has hindered his ambition to become a leading character actor.
It’s a shame as there is clearly a compelling story here and one can’t help warming to Goffing but in a theatrical setting, it just fails to hold attention. Perhaps it’s the wrong genre. As a book, it would make gripping reading but the enduring feeling here is more confusion than the story deserves.
Reviewed on 6 June 2017
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