Bin Laden: The One Man Show @ C Nova

Bin Laden: The One Man Show presents an interactive history of perhaps the most influential public figure of the new millenium.

The show, spiced with humour, tells the tale of the radicalisation of Bin Laden, who left university to join the resistance movement for the liberation of the Afghans, siding with the Americans against the Russians, and then turning against them when they collaborated with the Royal Family of Saudi Arabia to intervene in Kuwait, Iraq and Somalia to secure oil interests. 

The material is at once humorous, historically educational and charismatically told by Joseph Wilde, who 'picks on' (or incorporates) audience members into his performance to fulfill varius roles, as well as providing tea, coffee and biscuits to others. There are gaps though, the lack of costume or any effort to appear somewhat like the real life visage of the man whose story the protagonist purports to tell is a break in immersion which the comedy is pitched to make up for, but seems an unnecessary break in the willing suspension of disbelief. The particular brand of rationalisation and humanisation of Bin Laden, a man who had been in an incredible amount of conflict, suffered losses, and held fundamentalist views, is fit to tell some kind of story from his side – but it does seem most unlikely to be his story, told from his mental state. This is functional, but are we seeing the real Bin Laden?