What I liked
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What I didn't like
.My overall impression
Writer-performer Brian Leonard confronts the difficulties of raising a troubled child while exploring the wounds of his own complicated childhood in his one-man show Therapist Zero. Part stand-up, part dramatic monologue, the show draws steady laughter from the audience, but lands most powerfully in its quieter moments of vulnerability, especially when Leonard opens up about his absent parents and the severe neglect he experienced as a child. Unfortunately, those vulnerable moments are few and far between, leaving a longing for more.
Director Ken Sonkin keeps the staging sparse, with just a couple of chairs and occasional projections on the back wall. The simplicity of the set places the focus squarely on Leonard, though the piece itself sometimes lacks the structure needed to fully support him. Jumping between past and present, storytelling and performance, the show often feels as though it’s leading the audience somewhere it never quite arrives.
For all its structural looseness, Therapist Zero remains engaging. Leonard’s exploration of the mental health industry’s absurdities is sharp and funny, but beneath the satire is the moving story of a father desperate to help his daughter however he can.
