Jahz. 16 Mar 2012
Who, Me is a wonderful one-man show about one man’s obsession with all things Dr Who. That man is Rob Lloyd and he is a dead ringer for David Tennant, the 10th Doctor. Lloyd tells us that his obsession began in 1996 and he must have thought that all his Gallifreyan Christmases came at once when look-alike Tennant got the gig in 2006! A whole new career opened up for Lloyd, who is a trained actor, and he clearly hasn’t looked back.
In Who, Me Lloyd puts himself on trial to determine whether Doctor Who is guilty of plaguing him with an almost incapacitating obsession, or has it in fact enhanced him and assisted him to become a well-balanced but a bit ‘nerdy’ member of society? After 50 minutes the audience make it quite clear that the verdict should be the latter, but it was always going to be that way. After all, the large audience were all Doctor Who fanatics anyway. (At one point in the show, an audience member offered Lloyd the use of her Sonic Screwdriver!)
The trial is fun. Lloyd plays multiple roles: himself as the accused, himself as the accuser, judge, and barrister for both the opposition and the defence. Split and multiple personalities abound in a proliferation of parallel universes, and even the TARDIS would be challenged to keep up.
The pace is relentless as Lloyd lays bare selected aspects of his life that gives us an almost intimate sense of who he is. There is a little bit of obsession (and perhaps nerdiness!) in all of us, and not one member of the audience wouldn’t have recognised themselves on stage, even if only for the briefest moment. Interestingly, there was a large contingent of school children in the audience of the performance I saw, and Lloyd connected spectacularly well with them. He knew exactly how far he could go, and how and when he could drop the ‘f’ word without causing offense and making it sound totally funny. His jokes about adolescent raging hormones elicit nothing but enthusiastic laughter.
Lloyd’s physical humour is also first rate, his training is evident, and his facial expressions are at times priceless. A highlight of the show was a dance sequence at the end where he acts out the re-generations of the Doctors. It was exceedingly well choreographed, and danced. Lloyd knows how to use his body.
This show is a must-see for Doctor Who fans, but is also a very enjoyable and energetic piece of clever text-driven theatre mixed with sophisticated stand-up that can be enjoyed by absolutely anyone.
Kym Clayton
When: Closed
Where: Jahz
Bookings: Closed
