Lenny at Omnibus Theatre Review
Written by Cathie for Theatre & Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review
This production contains flashing lights.
What do you do when you feel a side character in your own life? Originally created in the Royal Court Introduction to Playwriting Group, Lenny was first seen in 2023 in a sold-out run at Theatre503, and is now running at the Omnibus Theatre. Directed by Sarah Stacey and written and performed by Alfie Webster, this is the Queer coming-of-age story of Lenny. Lenny is in his late twenties, and nothing has turned out the way he had planned. Instead of overpriced wine bars and sleeping by 11, he is having drug-fuelled club nights with his only friend and slowly dying in a job at a local cinema. In his search for true love, we see him falling into darker paths and toxic patterns.
Lenny, portrayed powerfully by Webster, is presented physically as an intimidating giant and one compared to Lenny in Of Mice and Men. Mentally, however, he is the complete opposite. Suffering from a crushing lack of self-esteem, anxiety and doubt, he is intimidated by everyone he meets and even feels inferior to repeated dreams and hallucinations about sexual encounters with bananas. This self-doubt leads Lenny to want to become “more dominant and more aggressive” in order to finally find true love with another man. As well as his work sweeping up popcorn at the local cinema, we see him go out on drug-fueled club trips with his best and only friend, Carly. He meets a potential new date called Jack in an unfortunate incident at the urinal and is so focused on this finally being his moment that he drives away his best friend. He is so focused on the ideal of romantic love and his own insecurities towards it that he doesn’t seem to see others beyond his interest in them and does not notice his friend struggling until it is too late. He is incredibly funny, uses witty observations to paint vivid pictures of the others in this one man show and showcases the different levels of humanity in all its stained glory. The themes of self-worth, masculinity and platonic love are beautifully rendered throughout.
Mima’s Houghton’s set and costuming are precise and wonderfully detailed. The set is a white box with a recessed square, cleverly invokes the arty cinema where Lenny works. Gabriel Finn’s lighting is excellent in creating a club atmosphere and the harsh lighting of cinemas. In the 80 minutes running time, we can see Lenny almost fall irrevocably into the darkest pits of loneliness and the hole of red pill culture in his self-centred views and viewing others as almost objects to satisfy his sexual and emotive needs. Although an incredibly selfish and lonely person, we see him throughout the story grow and reflect, becoming a stronger and more well rounded man who has found self-acceptance and recognises the importance of other kinds of love in his life.
This is a tightly paced show that covers a lot of ground in a short time with equal weight given to most of the issues and themes raised throughout. This is a refreshingly frank and courageous depiction of loneliness and the search for love in the face of growing ennui.
This show encompasses the full range of human emotion and shows the powerful strength of moving on one small step at a time. If you enjoy lurid dreams of bananas, millennial romantic drama and witty observational skits then this is the show for you.
Lenny runs at Omnibus Theatre until 4 October
★★★
