The One and The Many

A man awaits a visit from the mother he has never met. His anxiety is such that he decides to go for a massage at the parlour on the high street. Little does he know what he will find there.

This ‘romantic philosophical comedy’ by Trevor Lock is interesting and novel, and has some very funny lines in it—on top of which Lock ’s acting is undeniably good—but it still leaves a lot to be desired. The script seems to be uncomfortably abundant in attempts at Wildean truisms about life and love, which really only succeed in detracting from the genuinely clever lines, which are the unpretentiously humorous ones. It is to be assumed that it is these Wildisms, along with the surreal nature of the plot and banal ponderings on the meaningful/less-ness of beauty which make up the “philosophical” element of the play.

Well, so much for the philosophy then; what of the romance? Oh dear. There is none. The exchanges between the faceless (well, veiled) prostitute and Lock’s character, who come to recognise each other as “the one”, may be amusing, but they are hardly profound enough to be engaging.

On top of this, the character of the mother, apart from adding to the surreal impact the play has, seems totally irrelevant, and the relationship she and her son suddenly and inexplicably strike up entirely improbable.

In short then, Lock is a pleasure to watch, and does raise some genuine laughs, but perhaps he should stick to acting, as his writing here is below par.