The Man by James Graham
Old Fitz Hotel Theatre
Second run for Sydney Fringe Festival
It was an utter joy to a return viewing of this glorious play and masterful performance by Mike Howlett.
This is a much better space than better space than Lane Cove – Pottery Lane Performance Space, even with the remanence of set from the other play that’s showing in the same space, at the moment.
I would urge people from Griffin Theatre Company, Belvoir Street Theatre and Sydney Theatre Company to come and see this joyous work and make talks for it to be produced by them. This would also tour extremely well, so Arts on Tour should see this as well or any other funding/touring body out there.
Ben is an earnest, not so confident, neurodivergent, warm, funny and often lonely character who takes us on a journey through the challenges of doing his first ever tax return as a sole trader. The UK tax system is quite different to ours and follows many annoying British bureaucratic systems that don’t make sense, even when you’ve done it many times. Imagine how Ben feels. Through each receipt, that is given out to the audience on the way in, he tells the story of what they were from, what happened at the purchase and why they are important. We get reflection of a year in the life of Ben and what a year he had. No performance is the same as the order of collecting can to which audience member can never be planned. Which is why returning to the show was a joyful experience and felt like seeing a fresh show.
This performance was a lot more emotional than the last one that I saw in the first run in Lane Cove. Perhaps it was the order of the receipts or the weight of a sold out opening night in a more central venue. Mike Howlett is a master at naturalistic acting and storytelling and I still believe he deserves to win every single theatre award for his performance.
Claudia Leon is utterly charming as the voice of Lisa, who is Ben’s tax hotline operator.
I take my hat off to the creative team for uplifting this work and getting another run in. I hope it’s the start of many more to come. A little more light on the stage, particularly downstage right would be beneficial to not lose moments of Mike’s masterful performance.
I hope for the cast and creative team that this is a completely sold out run. I definitely plan on returning to see it again.
Run, don’t walk, to the Old Fitz Theatre to see The Man before the run ends on October 2nd!
To book tickets to The Man, please visit https://www.oldfitztheatre.com.au/the-man.
