Writer: Joe Mallalieu
Director: Tess Seddon
Danny and his two mates, Jas and Kyl have been friends since childhood. They liked to act tough and aspired to be like Danny’s grandfather, a mean, hard-working, no-nonsense sort of guy in the plastering trade. They drink, take drugs and work hard. Danny has a pride in his plastering and knows his trade well but their riotous life-style and anything good for a laugh catches up with them. Kyl leaves and gets an education, but Jas and Danny carry on plastering, working as a team until Jas has gone too.
Joe Mallalieu is the writer and performer. He is Danny, alone on the stage for just over an hour in this one act play. He talks to the audience bragging about past exploits; how the three mates were scared of nothing and how they could be mean like the fighting dog they taunted to give it the killer instinct.
Mallalieu is superb and has created a truly believable character in Danny. The audience know Danny is trying to write a speech in between plastering and repairing ‘weak spots made to look strong’ when it is in fact cracked and broken. This mirrors Danny’s mental state too. He is troubled, angry and at times spooked. But there is dark humour as he relates the antics he and his two friends got up to with some of their rich clients.
The event that Danny is trying to write the speech for is only revealed at the end of the play which provides a transitory moment which provides the denouement.
The set is simple, with the tools of the plastering trade, dust sheets and bare walls ready to be plastered. You gain a sense of the hard graft and loneliness of the job creating time to think and reflect.
The Tanya Moiseiwitsch Playhouse is the perfect stage for this powerful, intimate play that deals with mental health and masculinity. Rum was winner of the Broadway Baby Bobby Award in 2024 at the Edinburgh Fringe.
Reviewed on 12th June 2025. Currently on tour.
The Reviews Hub Score
Strong stuff
