OTR review: Without a Punchline

Perusing the program of Without a Punchline before the lights went down, I found that the playwright and director, Rory Mackenzie, described his play as both ‘hilarious’ and ‘antagonizing’. I […]


Perusing the program of Without a Punchline before the lights went down, I found that the playwright and director, Rory Mackenzie, described his play as both ‘hilarious’ and ‘antagonizing’. I was sceptical. In my experience student-written plays are almost always entertaining and are often quite funny, but I would find it hard to describe any as either hilarious or shocking. Without a Punchline is the exception.

Rory has burst onto the St Andrews theatre-scene with this, his first play, and just as his program promised, it beats from total hilarity to soul-crushing tirades of abuse and back again, leaving me emotionally drained by the end. I was exhausted from laughing too much and stressed from the emotional pain which had been acted out before me.

At first, Without a Punchline, which focuses on the struggle of comedian Norman Sullens to produce an original set for his first appearance on TV, seems to be about writer’s block—a fine topic for cathartic humour and certainly a topic which every university student can relate to . But as the play proceeds, it develops into an emotionally charged story, with a haunting question at its heart: what happened to Norman Sullens two months ago, and is it the source of his writer’s block? The two strongest moments of the play are the stand-up comedy sequences—the first, where Sullens seeks to improvise his final set but can only produce clichéd offensive humour (the presentation of which is very funny), and the second, where Sullens finally bares his soul in a desperate attempt to turn his traumatic experience into a comedy-set.

The play has a very small cast—only three actors—and with Olly Lennard (playing the protagonist, Norman Sullens) forced to deliver the numerous impassioned monologues of the show, it is practically a one man show. I had seen Olly Lennard perform before, and he was entertaining, but I had not singled him out as a ‘great actor’ of the St Andrews stage, a handful of whom (for better or worse) seem to dominate the St Andrews stage every year. I hope he’s proud of what he did tonight, because it’s the best individual performance I’ve seen in my three years in St Andrews. He completely committed himself to his role, and never for a moment did I doubt the veracity of his emotions, whether drunken rage or utter shame. The role of Norman Sullens is a powerful role, and I have the sense that any actor who succeeded in memorizing the very substantial lines of the role would find it difficult not to leave a favourable impression on the audience, but Olly—himself a stand-up comedian—perfectly captured the role of the comedian who, under pressure and haunted by a harrowing experience, drunkenly raves a cathartic comedy-set drawn from personal experience.

That being said, there were other actors in the cast and credit must be given where it is due. Emma Taylor was exceptional, holding down two roles as the supportive wife of Olly and a mother-in-law out of hell. I loved her exuberant moments, as she waits for Olly to read her a joke, and her moments of frustration, when she’s confronted by his character flaws. She made me laugh, she evoked pathos, and when she emerged from behind the curtain dressed as Olly’s mother-in-law, I felt fear. Jamie Jones, playing Olly’s MC and his doctor, was also a pleasure to watch (even if he played a truly despicable character). Jamie’s role may not have given him a chance to truly shine, but he kept me laughing the whole time he was on stage.

Without a Punchline was great. There were times when I felt that Rory’s wording was a little clumsy, but the timing of the play is impeccable, the pacing on cue, and there was simply brilliant acting. I laughed, I damn near cried, and I look forward with great expectation to Rory’s next project. It will be a difficult play to surpass, but if the old adage that ‘practice makes perfect’ is true, Rory’s great comedic timing will be honed with each successive project. I just hope he has the time to write them.

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