Honest – Bewley’s Cafe Theatre – Review by Frank L.

Written by DC Moore

Until Nov 26th, 2016

Honest was first performed in Northampton in 2010. The sole character is one Dave (Kevin Murphy) who works in some government department in central London. He loathes his work colleagues, who write reports in the language of a management consultant. It is Dave’s misfortune to approve these scribblings. He believes in being honest in his contact with people or to tell it as it is. Given he holds most of his colleagues in contempt, his relationships with them are not good. In addition he uses strong language often to describe his disapproval. He is a misanthrope. During the course of the play he not only describes his colleagues but also his flat mates, his brother, his wife and their child. In a bar he becomes drunk and is extremely unpleasant to a particular colleague. This leads to him going on a drunken walk around various parts of South London during which he is able to vent his scorn as to the manner in which various individuals and classes of individuals live their lives.

Kevin Murphy, notwithstanding the curmudgeonly personality of Dave, manages to extract from the script a deal of humour and in some strange way manages to elicit a limited portion of sympathy for the petulant, straight talking Dave as he continues his nocturnal odyssey around Clapham and Wimbledon. It is a demanding role within which he makes the awkward Dave if not loveable at least of some prickly merit.

The stage consists of a sloping ceiling with a simple geometric set of lines which invokes the boredom of a particularly dull government office. The sole chair is well designed and stands out rather like the manner in which Dave’s personality is separate from his colleagues.

It is an English, even London-centric piece. Some of Dave’s targets are very much the product of that society. It will bring occasional nervous smiles to the lips as Dave’s policy of saying what he thinks lands him in continuous confrontations. It is a glimpse of London life in the twenty first century.

Performed by Kevin Murphy

Directed by David Horan