After tackling the thorny subjects of religion and politics in his last two shows (with 'Christ on a Bike' and 'Hitler Moustache'), Richard Herring turns his sights on the subject of love, with the stated aim of destroying it, before it destroys him. Again.
He argues that the simple phrase "I love you" has been devalued by overuse and only really serves as a way of getting somebody to have sex with you. He points out that children are incapable of loving their parents (and that teenagers actively hate their parents), and that parents have no choice but to love their children, so where's the sacrifice and nobility in that?
In this show, he continues the autobiographical journey that he began in 'The Headmaster's Son', with more appallingly priggish teenage poetry and a look at some of his, ahem, less successful relationships through the years. As a louche, commitment phobic forty something will he ever reach a point in his life where he can say the words 'I love you' and truly mean them?
This is a more confessional and less confrontational show than some of his other work, but there is plenty to enjoy - from inappropriate valentine's cards, to the proper disposal of sexcrement, to the dangers of a simple romantic gesture combined with a lack of understanding of exponential mathematics. The ending reaches an appropriately moving conclusion, whilst treading some very dark waters indeed.
Highly recommended!
1 comment:
I'm not sure if it is overused...perhaps in some countries. If you consider the flip side of the equation, there are folks who spend their lives never saying that magical phrase to their loved ones...only to regret it much later on. Then, the day they say it, their intention probably isn't to get somebody to have sex with them, it's probably when they have that epiphany.
Just a thought. :P
Mark,
treatments for insomnia
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