EDINBURGH 2018: Review: ANGRY ALAN, Underbelly

Having recently been let go from his job, Roger is having a hard time. He is now the third assistant manager at a supermarket which means, well, not a lot.

While browsing the internet he stumbles upon Angry Alan. A man who has had enough of the oppression of men. Angry Alan feels that feminism has gone too far the other way and now men are seriously hard done by. Relating to this, Roger books to attend a conference to meet like-minded men and hear Alan speak in person.

Before the performance starts there is a scrolling Twitter screen onstage. It features comments about why women claim they don't like violent sex yet Fifty Shades of Grey is the number one selling book among women- and was written by a woman. Comments about how it is now impossible to even speak to a woman without her crying harassment.

Penelope Skinner's script is hard-hitting and Donald Sage Mackay's performance is deeply unnerving. Lines are delivered like a punch to the stomach.

All of the Youtube footage about the oppression of men has genuinely been found on the internet. One piece in particular talks about how feminists are twisting being "protected and provided for" into that they are being oppressed.

It feels very clear that Angry Alan is all done in a sort of satirical fashion. The lines that Mackay delivers with regards to men's activists are just so ludicrous the audience can't help but laugh. Angry Alan is a pretty dark play and it flips from laughable to unsettling very quickly. It might only be an hour long, but it'll stay with you for a long while after leaving the theatre.

https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/angry-alan-by-penelope-skinner

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