Upstaged rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Reviewer: Daniel Shipman
Having celebrated the suffragette movement with She Bangs the Drums earlier this year, Contact’s young company now turn their attentions to the altogether more controversial topic of masculinity.
Created in collaboration with Hetain Patel, the show takes place at a secret location, the outside of which is covered in handwritten responses to questions such as ‘what is masculinity?’ After being given a little too long to read these, the audience are ushered in to the space by a chorus of rhythmic chanting, stamping and banging on tin cans. The aggressive tone works as an attention-grabbing opener, and we all take our seats and wait for the tone to let up and explore the complexities of the subject matter.
Unfortunately, this moment never really comes. Whilst Oh Man is great at showcasing the ill-effects of masculinity, there is almost no attempt whatsoever to explore how traits such as violence and laddish behaviour are handed down through generations. This leaves the end product feeling a little unfinished, and it undersells the complications and contradictions of masculinity.
The company themselves put in a series of great performances, expertly juggling moments of tenderness with the impressive, high-energy set pieces. However, there is no escaping the fact that they are let down by their material. This is perhaps a risk when working with verbatim responses, but here it feels as though the material has been edited to avoid the more difficult questions.
Overall then, Oh Man is a missed opportunity to delve deeper into the subject of modern masculinity, but the cast ensures it is still an entertaining watch.
Oh Man runs at a secret location in Manchester’s city centre until Sunday 2nd September 2018.
I also saw this piece, and my honest opinion was that there was some great talent in the room but that the overall experience didn’t get far beyond the surface. No diggety.