NippleJesus at The Rondo Theatre, Bath

Shane Morgan's adaptation of NippleJesus, the tale of a security guard and his relationship with the artwork he's protecting, is as deceptively simple as the original short story by Nick Hornby.

In this one-man show Morgan is Dave, a nightclub bouncer who's jacked in his job after being threatened one time too many. Taken on by a contemporary art gallery, he's expecting regular hours and a quiet life but begins to suspect he's been chosen for a special sort of mission. Dave is a big bloke and the work he'll be guarding is controversial, but all he's told as he's led to a curtained-off side-room with a warning notice is to expect trouble. It's the complexities of his relationship with the picture behind the curtain, its creator and ragtag collection of visitors, which lie at the heart of this story.

Morgan begins his piece seated by a table at the back of an otherwise virtually empty stage, reading the newspaper and snacking on crisps and coke. As the story unfolds, with pared-back use of lighting and music, he very effectively recreates the curtained-off space and brings to life the presence of the picture.

Dave is your average man in the street with little interest in art, the first to admit that he'd usually be outraged if he read in the papers of a religious icon depicted through the medium of pornography. The beauty in this adaptation is how closely we're able to examine Dave's reactions as he grapples with the picture's meaning and develops protective feelings towards the work and its creator. Morgan is an entirely believable Dave and succeeds in bringing out the nuances and humour of Hornby's pin-sharp writing, the bigger questions behind this Everyman tale. He's the hard guy with unexpectedly intelligent and fuzzy edges, who finds them firming up again as the real reason behind his involvement becomes clear.

NippleJesus was first published in 2000 and the adaptation premiered at the Sidney Fringe Festival in 2001. It's been touring the world on and off ever since and the performance I saw was a preview of its most recent incarnation. It's still pretty faithful to the original story with only minor updating and deserving of the tour Morgan is working towards later in 2014.

I did mention a virtually empty stage. Let it be said I felt sorry for the onion*, but apparently, no vegetables were harmed during the course of this production. It's a clever and funny story, existentialism with humour so well delivered on the night. And that's never a simple thing to do.


NippleJesus is Shane Morgan's one-man show for Roughhouse Theatre. I saw it at The Rondo Theatre, Bath on 2nd May 2014. Many thanks to Shane/Roughhouse/The Rondo for my tickets.

NippleJesus is part of a short story collection Speaking with the Angel published by Riverhead Books.

*later humanely incorporated into a spaghetti bolognese.

Henry Walker and the Wheel of Death at the Rondo Theatre

I haven't yet read Mr Sebastian and the Negro Magician by Daniel Wallace, but I'm guessing it might not be the most straightforward of books to adapt. If the renamed play Henry Walker and the Wheel of Death is anything to go by, the novel is a multi-faceted blurring of truth and fantasy, exploring the raw edges where magic ceases to be a sleight of hand and becomes something darker and more mysterious.

So, Shane Morgan certainly didn't give himself the easiest task in transferring this story to the stage, and it's to his credit he retained the approval and involvement of its author. This is actually a rather unusual and engaging tale, but not always an easy one to explain - hence the heavy reliance on narration from the start. On its own, this might not be a problem, but when combined with an onslaught of microphoned voices, initially the overall effect is one of confusion. The main characters are yet to be established and there are too many focal points all at once; the actors to the side, the assertive narration of private detective Carson and Henry centre-stage performing his tricks in barefoot isolation.

The story really begins to kick in when the initial narration fades and we reach its emotional heart; the relationship between Henry and his sister Hannah, brilliantly played by Dan Gaisford and Madelaine Ryan.They don't adopt the vocals of children and yet from their expressions and demeanor we realise we're being allowed into their childhood. We are able to witness their sibling bonds of complicity, their withholding and sharing of secrets.

Although once wealthy, the children's father lost his livelihood in the 1930s crash and he now works as a hotel porter, widowed and drowning his sorrows in gin. The children are often left to make their own entertainment; Hannah with a dog she calls Joan Crawford and Henry in the company of the shadowy magician he knows as Mr Sebastian, who occupies Room 702. Mr Sebastian gives Henry a new pack of cards to practice magic with, but as their relationship develops it becomes clear that this enigmatic stranger has some very big demands to make in return. For Henry, it seems the price of becoming a successful magician may ultimately prove more than he can bear.

This play explores themes of love and identity, perception and reality; what may be gained in pursuit of success, but also what is lost along the way. In between the action and exposition lurk some touchingly poignant moments and, in the interval, my daughter and I were abuzz with excitement as to what had just happened and how the story might end.

Overall, there is much to commend this production by Roughhouse Theatre; the circus-themed set is striking and fully explored by the actors and there's excellent use of physicality and puppetry with some enchanting set-pieces. The company switches roles well between characters with good use of props and their reading from scripts emphasizes Henry's isolation in an increasingly sinister world. Music adds atmosphere throughout and, on balance, although overused, the microphones prove to be effective.

Towards the end, the adaptation loses its way a little again, with too many threads of alternative realities to draw together and a few inevitably remaining undone. Although the ending itself is satisfyingly circular, some simplification of the introduction and conclusion would provide a clearer framework for what is otherwise an enthralling and thought-provoking play.


Henry Walker and the Wheel of Death is at the Rondo Theatre from 13th-16th November 2013.

Photographs courtesy of Matt Collins at Crush Images and Roughhouse Theatre. We watched this play at the Rondo on 15th November, courtesy of Roughhouse Theatre.