Simon Ward reviews Monologues of Men at the Old Red Lion Theatre

Long time collaborators Francis Saunders and Dean Stalham have teamed up again, this time with Saunders writing and performing, and Stalham directing. I have long been an admirer of Stalham’s work (see Waiting for God and Art for Art’s Sake) and Saunders is in the same mould. Monologues of Men is exactly as described, a series of monologues featuring different men and their challenges. Saunders shares with Stalham a gift for authentically and powerfully capturing the inner feelings of men, feelings for which they have no outlet in their everyday lives. There is an underlying sense of a kind of crisis of masculinity where the very definition of what it is to be a man is contested.

Each protagonist takes the stage alone, the only prop a chair. This allows the writing to take centre stage and Saunders has a knack for capturing the poetry in everyday language. These monologues are the only time these men will reveal themselves so openly and honestly. The question of who they might be addressing is left open. An absent father leaves a boy with a hole in his life that he hopes boxing can fill, but even there, he has to lie and pretend that his dad taught him to box. A man falls in love with his perfect woman, only to find that her idea of love is to tear him apart emotionally until he has to escape to have any chance of putting himself back together. The father tormented by shame and guilt because he is struggling to provide for his family, despite working all hours. On the other side of the coin, the man with a life which is apparently perfect, with great job and loving partner, who still feels himself to be dead inside. The spectres of suicide and alcoholism haunt these men.

This is brutally honest and challenging material, but beautifully expressed. There is light among the shade with the final confession of a man reaching a certain age and realising that it might be time for the little blue pill. Which turns out to be not so discreetly displayed at Boots. Perhaps a bit more light and shade could have been woven through the other monologues as well. The powerful emotional intensity can be overwhelming. But there is no doubting the skill in the writing and the execution. Saunders stands out as a performer, other roles are ably taken by Dave Speck and Dave Matthews. Like Steven Berkoff before them, Saunders and Stalham are demanding a place on stage for the ordinary man. They understand that theatre has a unique ability to express emotion like no other art form. The silence of the men in these monologues is literally killing them. In this piece they are finally getting their chance to have a voice, and to explain to the world the pain and suffering that they have been repressing for so long.

Monologues of Men is running at the Old Red Lion Theatre, 418 John St, London EC1V 4NJ until Tuesday 31st March