What starts off as the stand-up routine from hell soon becomes a hellish experience as hapless Tony recounts a dark tale with a close friend and a kidnapped McDonald’s worker, in an abstract piece which bloats with ideas.
Penned by Ted Walliker, who also performs, directs and designs, RON marks an important moment for Riverside Studios as their first in-house production. At just an hour, the solo show centres upon Tony (Walliker), whose attempt at comedy soon slips into a dark retelling of murder, cannibalism and erotic desire.
Walliker bursts with energy in this piece, but the production struggles to avoid imploding underneath its own abstract concepts. Gags range from groan-inducing puns, which do earn a few laughs, to stark, visual punchlines, with the humour laced throughout varying in type and, as a result, loose in success.
Much of the show is spent in front of a red curtain, disguising an ominous set behind it where the piece’s darkest, more disturbing moments eventually play out. Like the play’s comedy, the design swings violently too, but the result means that much of the last twenty minutes is spent too upstage, evoking an unintentional disconnect between performer and audience in this solo work.
That said, there is something engrossing about Walliker’s performance despite the chaotic onstage events. Walliker is quick to change vocal tones, multirolling successfully, while a neat use of shadow puppetry is a nice touch in furthering the play’s absurdity. While the writing needs a little sharpening, the final few moments are deftly put together in a twist that remains fresh despite some obvious telegraphing, with a blood-soaked Tony standing broken, centre stage. Walliker is clearly a very impactful performer, yet the piece needs a fresh pair of eyes on it to try and pull it all together under something slightly more cohesive and refined, feeling a bit too undercooked at the moment.
There is potential in this work, but for RON to succeed, it needs to settle on an identity which, ironically, is what is mistaken for poor ‘Ron’ in the piece itself. It is packed with ideas, and some successful comedic moments and quips, but whiplashes too frequently to fully land.
