Monday 26 November 2012

Lovesong at RADAR 2012 - review

Written by: Peeny (@AdamPeeny

Where's Peen been?
Bush Theatre, London
Was Peen keen?
***



How many times do we have to be asked, “How many times you gotta be taught the same lesson?” Honestly, once was enough.

It’s difficult not to get bored of friends banging on about something for so long, let alone someone you don’t even know. The only difference is that here, there’s music from Omar Lyefook to accompany this sort of mini concert, which entirely revolved around telling one girl that he loved her… and she wasn’t even there.

Written by Ché Walker, this one-man show performed by Lyefook has an admirable, down-to-earth and very relatable premise. Lyefook simply tells us a story and sings us a few songs. The songs are nice; the story briefly picks up on issues such as war, drug addiction and prostitution. He is in love, and luring after the girl of his dreams but along the way, he learns life lessons such as putting aside your pride, and how a grown man shouldn’t behave like a young boy.


We’re sympathetic, for a short while; and it’s not that we turn against him, rather, become totally distant and disengaged from him and this story that should be shaved of its running time quite substantially. It’s just too long: a monotonous delivery throughout, thus so much of the flow of the performance becomes very predictable.

The writing is of great quality and Lyefook has a great voice suited to the nice music composed by Walker. But the lesson to really be taught here isn’t how to get an audience in to the palm of your hands, but how to keep them there.

RADAR 2012 has now closed. 
For more information on the venue: http://www.bushtheatre.co.uk
@BushTheatre #RADAR2012 

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