Review: 'Ron' – a comedian's breakdown turns into a Tarantino-esque odyssey
Ted Walliker's new play 'Ron' starts as a stand-up set but quickly descends into a violent and absurd story. The critic notes a lack of depth and a failure to hold the audience's attention.
In Ted Walliker's new play 'Ron', the performer plays Tony, a bumbling posh-boy comedian whose stand-up act flops. When he fails to get laughs, he adopts a tougher persona and launches into a story of a gruesome night with his friend Mike, involving torn-off faces and chewed bones. The narrative spirals into a Tarantino-esque odyssey with kidnaps, gangsters, and cannibalism, but the play's ambitions miss the mark.
Walliker, who also wrote, co-directed (with Lev Govorovski), and handled lighting and sound, delivers a confident performance, capturing the rhythm of stand-up comedy. However, the review from The Guardian argues that the show quickly abandons its framing device and becomes a series of non-sequiturs without consequences. The audience is left without incentive to understand the narrator's derangement, as we barely get to know him.
The set design and costume changes hint at the story coming to life, but they don't compensate for the lack of emotional depth. The critic concludes that the show would benefit from letting the audience feel what Tony is running from, rather than just watching him run.
