Clever thought provoking one hander that shows good command of the power of speech, delivered by a confident and spirited actor.
Rufus Love brings the Speakers’ Corner from Hyde Park to the Hope Theatre in this rambunctious solo performance. With a set consisting of a hangman’s noose and a mannequin decorated with a pope’s hat, shower curtain and a judge’s wig, this intimate black box theatre soon turns into the debating ground for flat earthers, men’s right activists and one lone speaker that captures Love’s attention.
After discovering this hallowed ground by chance, Love, playing a version of himself, has been motivated to return time and time again to capture the essence of Speaker’s Corner in a play. As he starts to document the odd, slightly weird, often wonderful, characters that return to this corner week after week, he encounters an anti-hero that becomes the focal point of this play. This individual returns weekly with a new argument, a new cause, and on one occasion Rufus finds himself in the crosshairs of his vitriol, publicly humiliated in front of a crowd baying for his blood. This brings to life one of the major hooks of this play – Speaker’s Corner is Twitter in the flesh – full of angst, trolls and keyboard warriors, but with one crucial difference – you can see the person spewing out these words. It’s a fascinating exposition of how humans gravitate towards the passionate, how an argument that seems ludicrous to me is full of clarity to my neighbour, and how far people will go when the public is behind them.
Of particular note is two speeches Love writes as part of the play – that of those for the condemned and the judge – the prose flow is rhythmic and clever, bringing forward witticisms and harsh truths that have the audience smiling, murmuring and frowning as they reflect on his words. Separate to the play, these are speeches I’d find thought provoking and keen to examine further – why did this bit provoke me, why did this part have me sighing and why did this section make me angry. It’s clear that Love has a knack for finding those little niche areas that make people think and react and this is surfaced well in the play.
As a whole, this one-hander is an enjoyable quick paced drama that encourages the audience to reflect and think about what one will do to have the majority behind them, in their actions, their thoughts and their beliefs. There’s a few areas for refinement: the ending was a little rushed, there was a notable lack of female characters in the storytelling and at times the story got a little confused with what it was focusing on, however it’s minor details in an otherwise impressive hour of clever comments delivered by an engaging and animated actor. What Love develops next and brings to the stage will definitely be something I’d be keen to see again.