Red Bastard: Lie With Me
Things we loved
- The Red Bastard owns the stage
- Some high gain questions we can ponder later
Things we would reconsider
- Would love to end with a poignant dose of wisdom from the Red Bastard after the final scene - to wrap this gift with a bow
It’s little wonder Eric Davis aka The Red Bastard has won awards such as Most Outrageous Show because his performances not only break the fourth wall, they cross the line between polite conversation and private confession.
In this 70-minute show we journey with The Red Bastard, and with Eric, deep into the complex mechanism of protocols that govern relationships.
What constitutes love? What constitutes cheating? Do the same rules apply to both (or all) players in a relationship?
Through the Red Bastard character, Eric holds aloft a broken mirror into our psyches to expose us all as liars in love.
This show is funny, it is poignant, and at times you feel like you are on the front seat of a rickety roller coaster as the white-faced, red-costumed fairy of fear scours the audience for another person to engage with.
This reviewer was the first person asked to participate publicly in last night’s show and can testify that it is great for the soul.
Do it. See this show. Maybe take your partner so you can see your relationship’s reflection together, or go alone so you can run some self-diagnostics and assess how authentically you are performing in your role as a love partner. Either way, leave some time for sitting quietly afterwards so you can reflect on the truths that are scattered throughout this performance.
The Red Bastard: Lie With Me has a thoughtful structure and is partly scripted and partly reliant on audience participation. It’s like grown up, 3D talkback.
Is it edgy? Well, that depends on how close to the edge you are standing in your relationship and how willing you are to own up to the fact that we are all liars (yes, even you).