“What a piece of work is a man!”
The very personable James Rowland squashes Hamlet, a life story and an exploration of father and son relationships into round about 80 minutes give or take—and dependent on how long it takes for a thistle seed to float to the floor.
Clever, engaging, thoughtful and fun, there is much to ponder, questions unanswered, angst and joy as PJ-clad James, a natural raconteur, tells us of the most profound five seconds of his life so far.
James despises his late father—an eminent musician and director of chamber music at Royal Northern College of Music—for reasons mostly unexplained, but is dragged into celebrating his life by a bombastic, dying eccentric. Oddly, James’s beloved ‘adopted’ brother (his most glorious gift) reveres James’s father and despises his own (who just couldn’t cope with a baby after the suicide of his wife and threw money at the problem instead of time and connection).
The relationships are complicated, the search for peace, home—with maps spread across the floor showing world travel, childhood memories and the minutiae of village life—the ultimate chicken burger unravels while the s-words surrounding suicide and the simplistic delight of toddlers are discussed.
And, throughout, Hamlet is used to beautifully describe the very human condition and those big, big questions life has thrown James’s way.
Excellent but, as in life itself, we leave with so many queries.