My overall impression
This was an incredibly thoughtful and thought-provoking piece, with a winning and evocative performance by Ryan Vincent Anderson and pithy, witty and touching writing from Rick Creese. Anderson’s facility to whip from character to character is very engaging, though on occasion the ‘type’ took over from the ‘truth’. By which I simply mean I wanted to feel a little more sympathy for the wife rather than gentle mockery. However, this is one of the pitfalls of one person shows: we want to tell the story clearly, at the same time we have to be careful not to jeopardise the truthful perspective of each character we’re portraying. This is quibbling, however, as this is a very compelling piece which raises eternal questions about equality and the immense challenges facing actors of color in the undeniably privileged white environment of 1800s’ European and American theatre (and still…?).
