Target has written a truly excellent tribute to a member of his family who he so clearly cherished, and performs it with such honesty and raw intensity.
The story of his family homes, detailing normal, mundane family troubles is relatable and invites the audience in by giving us a glimpse of his day to day life growing up. Witty and earnest writing interspersed with the use of a clever, interactive set, it is an engaging piece which really gets you thinking about mortality, love, and family.
While I feel Target started out a little nervous (more than likely from early run gitters) he dealt with disruptive audience members very well.
Target’s point of view of love, specifically the absence of love and the perception of it, really makes the audience think. This is just one of the moments within this performance art piece in which I find myself questioning my own perspectives on topics such as this.
This is a very touching, poignant piece, which explores not only mortality, but also the loss of dignity that also comes with nearing the end, and how each person surrounding this is affected.
While yes, this piece is about some hard hitting topics, it is done in a surreal, silly way which is not only disarming, and a beautiful tribute to Target’s uncle, Lorenzo, who penned the phrase “silly o’clock”.
Ben Target: LORENZO is on at the Summerhall, Anatomy Lecture Theatre until August 27th everyday apart from Mondays.
Emily Miller
