Ron

Riverside Studios • 19th June - 5th July

A production like Ron, of which I think it’s safe to say there aren’t that many, always presents this reviewer with a bit of a dilemma. It’s not the fact that it would be tricky to explain a show that often defies explanation, but rather that to attempt to do so here would potentially mean denying any future audience member the same levels of enjoyment, suprise and indeed shock that this press night audience got to experience.

What I can say, without fear of divulging too many secrets, is that Ron is ‘not a stand-up’ routine. That much is made clear from the show’s poster and flyer… and yet… maybe if David Lynch, or quite possibly Quentin Tarantino, were ever to devise a stand-up routine, this might very well be it, this one hour, one man play being packed from start to finish with delicious (maybe the wrong word under the circumstances) twists and wholly unexpected surprises, all of which are honed to near perfection by the plays star and author Ted Walliker.

To be fair, upon entering the auditorium the stage does in fact look set for a classic night of stand-up comedy. There’s a solitary mic stand lit from above by a single spotlight, the classic short-hand iconography of the format, and indeed when Walker takes to the stage as the seemingly wannabe comedian Tony Foot, hungover and with a nervous energy so off-the-chart that it threatens to disrupt his whole act, the comedian’s classic art-form begins to collapse into a deconstructed mess around him as it becomes apparent that the journey he is about to take us on is one that has been born out of trauma, and what quickly follows is Foot’s recollections of an unbelievably wild ride he and his childhood friend Mike have been on.

There are echoes of Richard Gadd’s recent TV drama Half Man in the dynamic between the two main characters, (Walliker often conveying the conversations between multiple characters throughout), in that it would seem each is somewhat reliant on the other to complete them as a whole person. Mike is volatile and violent whilst Tony, somewhat in awe of these qualities, is happy to go to extreme lengths in order to stay in Mikes orbit, the bonds that tie them together only increasing with each new ‘adventure’. However, these all pale into insignificance next to the fact that Mike has also been the object of Tony’s unrequited affection ever since they met, and whilst it’s a questionable motivation for some of there more ‘unconventional’ activities, it does ground the chaos of the world that Walliker has created for his protagonists with an emotional core.

As such Ron unfolds as a story of mistaken identity, (The ‘Ron’ of the title being the case in point), friendship, murder and a deep seated affection that persists under the most unlikeliest of circumstances. The audiences perception of each character is continuoulsy undermined with each new, wildly implausible, revelation. “Mike was an extra in Gladiator. I was an extra in A Bugs Life”. It’s the deliciously surreal nature of lines like this, and the throwaway style in which Walliker so matter-of-factly delivers them, that provide much of the humour in an otherwise macabre set of circumstances, woven together in a finely balanced tapestry of hilarious comedy juxtaposed with an increasingly dark rollercoaster ride of the unfolding events, all of which makes Ron the original theatrical proposition that it is, as well as one of the more daring pieces of theatre I have seen for a while. “It’s almost like it’s not true”, Foot muses as the audience desperately tries to decipher whether the facts they are being presented with could in fact be a complete flight of fancy.

For the most part the stage is dressed by little more than the actor and a microphone, and it’s a testament to both Wallikers ability as both writer and actor that the audience is seldom anything other than completely immersed in every line that leaves his lips, possibly for fear that they might miss yet another wildly unexpected twist in this fast paced show… and sure enough, just when you think the play has nothing more it can do or say to surprise you, Walliker still manages to find a few more ace’s up his sleeve, one of which results in a visual cue that actually prompted an audible gasp from the audience.

The seemingly multi-talented Walliker is also responsible for the impressive lighting and sound design, (which work well in changing both the mood and the environment throughout) sharing directing, set and costume design duties with Lev Govorovski. Whilst the costume design should definitely be commended for the reintroduction of the velour suit, (I swear my mum used to have a sofa covered in exactly the same material and colour as Tony Foots suit), I did leave the theatre still partially baffled as to why Tony Foot had actually found himself spending quite as much time as he did dressed only in his underwear… but hey, why not!

It would be a bit of a disservice to the sheer originality of this production to keep drawing comparisons in order to try and describe the show, but given the intentional lack of anything more specific about the plot itself, I will just add that if you go into the show prepared for a mix of the 1982 cult TV comedy Police Squad, (for its absurdist one-liners) the 2025 film Bugonia, (for it’s altogether more darkly comic undertones) and a dash of American Psycho for good measure, you’ll still only be halfway prepared for the show you are about to experience. It may not be for lovers of big budget West End musicals, but for those seeking a production as funny as it is darkly unique, then this is definitely a show you should see before it’s gone.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Ron is on at the Riverside Studios from 13th June to 5th July. Tickets available here

review: Simon J. Webb

photographs: Percy Walker-Smith