Rodney Black: Who Cares? It’s Working. Lion and Unicorn Theatre.

Rodney Black is a tacky small-time comedian with a venal manager and a taste for nasty misogynism. “I’m a huge supporter of women’s rights… and lefts,” he says, assuring us without much conviction that he is really “not a wanker”. But the jokes get laughs, at least from a certain type of alienated young man in the back row, who nods along when he declaims, “This is the worst time in history for the straight, white male.”

Part Louis CK, part Andrew Tate, and part pathetic loser, Rodney claims his “art illuminates truths”. His act, he tells us, is “a hyperbolic representation of my real concerns.” Why should his ‘truth’ not be aired? “Black won’t let woke win,” trumpet the right-wing journalists egging him on to ever greater offence. But then tragedy strikes. Am I “responsible for one crazed loon who mistakes a joke for a call to arms?” Rodney asks us with trademark self-serving narcissism. After all, it is only an act.

Rodney Black? Who Cares It’s Working unfolds in two parallel narratives, dovetailed with confidence by writer Sadie Pearson. The first strand explores Rodney’s (Ben Willows sneers and snarls with repellent charisma) descent from devil-may-care subversive to something much darker, aided by his amoral, money-grabbing Manager (Bertie Taylor-Smith hand chops out a constant stream of sexual innuendo with karate-style abandon). The second storyline sees the ghostly presence of an unnamed ‘Woman’ (a tremendous Merida Beasley brings to mind Inspector Goole from An Inspector Calls), a kind of avenging angel itemising, to brutal effect, the impact Rodney’s words have on women in general and one woman in particular. A well-camouflaged twist in the tail sees the storylines collide.

Rodney Black? Who Cares It’s Working raises some interesting questions, not least to what extent Rodney is culpable for the spiralling impact of his character’s unhinged toxicity. But Pearson’s targets – including social media, audiences who demand titillation, ‘anti-woke’ glorification of hyper-masculine role models, and plain old mercenary greed – feel scattergun. The broad focus means we never really get inside Rodney’s head, a problem compounded by the fact that he is so one-dimensionally malign. Establishing an emotional connection with a character, even as odious as this one, is difficult without a sliver of empathy. There are multiple cultural, psychological, and social factors underpinning the appeal of the Rodney Blacks of this world, each of which feeds on the vulnerabilities of young men. Of these vulnerabilities, we see little.

Anticipate periodic audience interaction and lit house lights, designed one supposes to make the point that performers, the good, the bad and the ugly, survive only because you and I pay to watch them.

STAR RATING:  3 stars

Writer:  Sadie Pearson

Director:  Hen Ryan with Sadie Pearson