A Play for all to See
Debbie Apsan
A Play for all to See
Tings Dey Happen. The very name brings all to ask: What actually does happen? Well, the answer can be found at 55 Mercer Street, where a whole new perspective on life is waiting to unfold. Dan Hoyle, the writer of the play, reveals the truth about oil politics in Nigeria, and the constant tension between the lower class workers and the upper class tyrants, who steal all the oil money for themselves. This strain is not common knowledge to the public, and therefore is drilled into the audience by the sole actor, Dan Doyle, himself, during the show.
That’s right. Dan Hoyle performed the whole play by himself. It was phenomenal! In a riveting performance, and in an extremely clever manner, Dan played every character in the play. He was constantly switching from the many different dialects of Nigerian English, to Scottish, and Western American; it was also absolutely fascinating to watch him change from character to character. For example, in one scene, Dan switched from playing a Nigerian bartender, to a Nigerian prostitute. The crowd went wild, because it was really such a funny sight; no one who read the play would have imagined him to do that– I certainly was pleasantly surprised. In addition, Dan’s talent is highlighted by the fact that there are no costumes. The whole time he was wearing black, and the audience only knew a change in character by a different accent, Dan’s change in position, or a shift in the lighting.
The play started off with a humorous introduction by Sylvanus, the narrator of the play, but definitely did not remain a comedy. Rather, the play oscillated between funny, and downright horrific scenes. For example, one scene describes the silly conversation about different nuts between young diplomats from various countries, while another narrative brought the audience to tears when it proclaimed that everyday a poor Nigerian worker gets killed or kidnapped by the Nigerian government, to whom America pays its oil money to.
The theater was a perfect place for the play: it was very small. Therefore, it seemed as if Dan was really talking to the audience, and informing us about the oil problem. This was very successful because after the play, I really wanted to do something about the oil problem. A part of me desired to run and tell the gas stations where their money was actually going. Or maybe, I thought, I should just stop driving altogether.
However, the play is an hour and a half production, without an intermission. Because of this, the audience appeared to lose interest by the end. But don’t let this put you down! It is very important to show your support for this cause. Besides, it was a very entertaining performance.