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Angry Young Man
Holden St Theatres
Thurs 2 March
A clever and deceptively lively play, 'Angry Young Man' has Fringe Pundits calling it a 'must see', yet it is nothing like I expected. These years, polemic and treatises on the plight of refugees, the odium of governments and so on seem the norm, but Ben Woolf's very sharp script 'Angry Young Man' takes the idea of a refugee (Yuri, a trained surgeon from Russia) and has him fall in with the wrong crowd. Specifically, muddle-headed Englishmen, one of whom, Patrick, seems a very angry young man indeed. This is the first great reversal in the plot, as the audience expects Yuri to be the 'AYM'.
Four young men are onstage, dressed identically in shiny suits and natty ties; as the action unfolds and Yuri makes the acquaintance of Patrick and his consorts the actors bound about the stage, swapping lines - and roles -with comedic deftness which argues long hours honing the direction. The four (Sam Alexander, Hywel John, Gary Shelford and Ben Woolf), play as if they're auditioning for a part in an English 'crim' movie like 'Lock Stock & 2 Smoking Barrels'. There's thugs and villains, a daft girlfriend, her idiotic father, and Patrick. Oh, and there's a black swan and a dog, played by the otherwise silent Woolf who, right until the end, is the foil to the other three.
A romp and a farce of rare flavour.
Alex Wheaton
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