The Way Way Deep review

There is a huge amount of style to this piece, but not a lot of substance.

Patrick McPherson’s third one-man show – following previous productions The Man and Colossal – is incredibly cool to look at, but does not have the content to match.

The story follows McPherson’s protagonist on a post-work night out, during which he bumps into a childhood friend he has not seen for seven years. As they get drunk and go looking for trouble together like old times, nostalgic flashbacks to their adolescent adventures are threaded through the narrative.

It is like a one-man memory play, but it is never clear what McPherson is attempting to explore.

At times, the play seems to be a study in how friendships fall apart. At others, it feels like an examination of male violence. At others, there are distinct homoerotic hints. Then, about 45 minutes through, it takes a laughably melodramatic turn and loses its audience completely.

Things are not helped by the confusing cocktail of styles – sometimes straightforward storytelling, sometimes poetry or song.

McPherson is a confident and compelling presence – even if he does sometimes confuse acting with posing – but his performance and his production would be more potent if he kept things simple.

Director Ellie Coote’s staging does look great, though, thanks to Will Hayman’s stylish design of eight dangling neon tubes that pulsate through the colour spectrum in time to Sam Rothera’s ambient sound design.

This is an undeniably beautiful piece – but looks only get you so far.