It takes guts to stage a one-man show and a whole lot of courage to hold that stage for an hour, alone. Ben Donaghy is the one man and his nerves grew to confidence as he relaxed into his show.
Ben is in his bedroom, and everything happens here, as he combines storytelling and stand-up, travelling his inner world and experiences, lived and not.
The bed is a metaphor used figuratively, a prop, covering and uncovering as Ben hides himself and his inner self under the covers.
The over-riding themes of anxiety and loneliness, of men’s mental health are contemporaneous and so important to explore, and could have been developed further with a clearer starting and end point. Ending where we started, we didn’t travel far – the piece lacked a maturity to observe, reflect and evolve.
Taking inspiration from Tracey Emin’s Bed, Ben brought lots of ideas into the show, diluting direction. Additional themes touched on of toxic masculinity, coming out and gender roles are important, but could be taken into a future piece or they need a stronger connection to his journey, objects in the box and the bed. Dressing Up with a not-so-random audience member could be cut completely – adding nothing to the performance but minutes, it wasn’t funny and did not inform the themes.
Unlike the character, Ben was not alone and had much support in the audience as well as his smiling dad on the sound desk and his lovely mum out front, proffering zines. He can be proud of his performance and has no need to take to his own bed, but has time now to reflect and whet his script before hitting Camden fringe.
