★★★★★

“Davison’s performance is a tour-de-force”

The Poltergeist, by award-winning playwright Philip Ridley, is an extraordinary piece of storytelling which will haunt you long after you leave the theatre. Strap yourself in for this is a rollercoaster of a ride. Lone actor, Louis Davison, plays all the characters, including the protagonist Sasha – a former art world prodigy – at breakneck speed.

In the world of the play, Sasha has fallen from his former artistic fame and glory and now shares a flat with his boyfriend Chet in the East End of London. It is here that he battles addiction, paranoia and navigates dysfunctional family dynamics. Having been something of a one-hit wonder as a teenager, he is now tortured by an agonising sense of artistic failure. But is any of this truly justified in a surface level, social media-driven, celebrity obsessed art world? The mercenary, superficial nature of modern-day art culture is exposed to great comic effect in the scene where Davison continually switches between playing Sasha and a female American art dealer/promoter out on the prowl for artistic young blood to help line her own pocket.

Davison’s performance is a tour-de-force. The vocal and physical speed, energy and vigour with which he shifts between six different characters, is a feat to behold. The fine craft of an actor at the height of his game is on full display here. Much credit too must go to the director, Wiebke Green. The general tempo of this piece may feel unrelentingly fast – perhaps too much for some – but this is something that is clearly reflected in the ‘in-yer-face’ nature of the script and the rhythm of the writing. Green does not shy away from doing it justice and ramps it up to the ninth degree (there are few dramatic pauses or silences in this work); this helps to charge the juxtaposed slower paced, more tender later scenes in the play with even more emotional resonance. Also, the creative decision to completely strip back and do without any set or props works well and makes for a more raw and powerful audience experience.

Social conventions and etiquette are frequently juxtaposed with Sasha’s dark sense of wit and his deeper search for honesty and truth. Of his niece’s birthday party, Sasha wittily says, ‘This is where Hieronymus Bosh meets the Barbie doll.’ Ironically, it is at his niece’s birthday party where Sasha eventually experiences an emotional healing of sorts at the end of his long and tortuous journey. ‘The surface is waterlilies but underneath it’s all sharks and formaldehyde’ is another stand out line in this play. Clearly this is an artistic reference to Monet and Damien Hirst but it’s also a metaphor for the disturbing truths that lie underneath a façade of superficial, social niceties in many families.

This is a play about memories and the haunting nature of past choices. But at its emotional core, it is a play about grief. Ridley’s trademark darkly comic tone is evident through much of the storytelling but as the narrative propels us towards the final scenes, there is a note-perfect beautiful tenderness that is haunting in and of itself.

RODNEY BLACK: WHO CARES? IT’S WORKING

Arcola Theatre

★★

“a deliberately hard watch”

The fickleness of fame has long been documented. Holding onto the beast that is success, in a world where your five minutes is dwindling to a 30-second TikTok, has become almost unachievable. The market is saturated, attention spans are shorter, and careers can be cancelled in an instant. According to Rodney Black, “This is the worst time in history for the straight, white male.”

The cosy, familiar safety that usually settles over an audience as the lights dim is short-lived in this disturbing, confrontational production by the female-led Full Frontal Theatre. The stage, paired with bold blue lighting, evokes the atmosphere of a late-night comedy club. The only things missing are the smell of stale beer and the ambiguous moisture that clings to the walls. Lucky for us, we have just the host to provide that queasy feeling: enter comedian Rodney Black.

Rodney (Ben Willows) takes centre stage, armed with a stand-up microphone. He receives a few chuckles during his introduction before eagerly launching into a routine of misogynistic, homophobic, racist, and ableist jokes. The room quickly descends into uncomfortable silence as audience members squirm and grimace. Despite the cold reception, Willows is sharp and direct, laughing where the audience doesn’t. He impressively maintains the pace, a difficult tightrope to walk while performing a medium that relies on interaction, in a production that urges viewers not to engage.

Written by Sadie Pearson, Rodney Black: Who Cares? It’s Working is a deliberately hard watch. Through Rodney, she delivers a stand-up routine that describes graphic sexual violence towards women with a wink and a smile. It’s not funny, it’s not subtle: it’s exposure therapy. “It’s just a joke,” Rodney cries, but Pearson makes it clear this is no laughing matter.

There’s a direct correlation between the aggression in Rodney’s act and the success he gains, culminating in a particularly brutal joke describing how he would mutilate a woman. After this gig, a male ‘superfan’ attacks and murders a female audience member, following Black’s routine to the letter. Supported by Hen Ryan’s punchy, reactive direction, chaos ensues as Rodney’s equally vile manager (Bertie Taylor-Smith) goes into hyperdrive trying to minimise the media fallout.

The problem is that Rodney is simply too one-dimensional to imagine having this much impact. His routine is uncomfortable, not appalling. There’s insufficient contrast between his on- and off-stage personas to suggest it’s just an act. Repulsive as he may be, we never understand who Rodney is or what drives him to make people laugh. His manager offers no alternative view, equally small-minded and wetter than the snowflakes he mocks. In trying to represent an important issue, these characters become conceptual.

The unnamed Woman (Merida Beasley) is a constant presence, haunting the stage and probing the narrative. She repeatedly reminds us of the horrors the victim endured: an arm broken in three places, a dislocated jaw. These are the most powerful moments in Pearson’s heavy-handed play, but they are few and far between. There’s too much focus on Black’s offensive performance, the very thing it aims to denounce. In attempting to draw a parallel between cancel culture and violence against women, the premise becomes convoluted, landing more as a statement on media literacy and internet safeguarding than anything else.

In a world where ‘art’ has become synonymous with ‘content’, it’s harder to determine what is an act and what is truth. Creators chase viral moments, while disingenuous ragebait fuels engagement. Rodney Black: Who Cares? It’s Working challenges its audience to recognise that just as actions have consequences, words can too.

THE POLTERGEIST

Arcola Theatre

★★★★★

“Davison’s performance is a tour-de-force”

THE POLTERGEIST

Arcola Theatre

Reviewed on 23rd September 2025

by Tim Graves

Photography by Simon Annand

Previously reviewed at this venue:

THE POLTERGEIST

THE POLTERGEIST

THE POLTERGEIST

RODNEY BLACK: WHO CARES? IT’S WORKING

Arcola Theatre

★★

“a deliberately hard watch”

RODNEY BLACK: WHO CARES? IT’S WORKING

Arcola Theatre

Reviewed on 3rd September 2025

by Lily Melhuish

Photography by Grace Shropshire

Recently reviewed at the venue:

RODNEY

RODNEY

RODNEY

JOIN US