Who knew bananas could be so cruel?
In his late 20s, lenny. feels it’s time to finally become himself, to cast aside his self-constraints and leave the murky margins to head for centre-stage. So he goes to a nightclub, meets a guy, and hopes the rest is history, writes Mary Bradshaw.
But who is lenny.? Alfie Webster’s one-hour-twenty monologue will whizz between who he wants to be, who he thinks he is, who he thinks he wants to be, who he’s told to be, and who he actually is. Does Lenny wear bright, loud, green puffer jackets? Or is fluffy, baby pink lambswool more his thing? Oh, and this quest for identity uses a lot of banana imagery: who knew bananas could be so cruel!
The gentle, hazy lighting in lenny.’s white-cube of a universe will transport us to the backseats of Ubers, the insides of recycling bins, strip-lit chicken shops, cinemas, projection rooms at cinemas, night clubs, and Prêt. We follow him through the twists and turns of his search for peace. The result is mesmerising. Webster’s protagonist is instantly loveable. And his playfully-written script relatable.
lenny. shows us how we can squirm and laugh through difficulty and embarrassment, but still stand our ground. How we can emerge from some self-imposed, rotting, banana-skin chrysalis, only to be who we were all along.
Webster’s piece asks all the questions that we wish had clear answers: How to love and be loved? How to be there for yourself and be there for others at the same time?
This production is electrifying and soothing all at once. lenny. realises he is just lenny., lower case-full stop, after all, and that’s enough. The lambswool can stay, and the demonic, self-abusive voice is just a liar.
Omnibus Theatre until October 4th.
Booking and full details: https://www.omnibus-clapham.org/
