Political comedian Mark Thomas gives a powerful performance in this solo show about a man lost to a cycle of violence and addiction, which is preceded by a sit-down comedy routine about its conception. Writer Ed Edwards wrote the play for Thomas when the two were doing performance workshops with recovering substance abusers in Manchester. It blends characters in Thomas’s youth with experiences Edwards had in prison.
So the first half of an uneven evening sees Thomas explaining five-act dramatic structure to various junkies and alcoholics, then impersonating them as they describe darkly funny low points in their lives. One middle-class heroin user took three syringes to work each day, “like a packed lunch”. Thomas banters with the audience and is very much in his comedy-club comfort zone.
