Arts Week with Judy Murphy

Director Andrew Flynn was fascinated on Saturday night, watching how the audience responded to Ian Lloyd Anderson as Alex in the first preview of Simon Stephen’s one-man play, Sea Wall.

It’s one of two short monologues by the English writer that Andrew’s company, Decadent Theatre is staging for this year’s Arts Festival and this “conversation between the audience and an actor” is challenging to perform, according to Andrew.

Lloyd Anderson plays Alex, who is happily married and has a daughter he loves. He’s happy in his job and in the city where he lives. He draws the audience in as he describes life with his wife, Helen, and their daughter, Lucy. But, sometimes things turn on a pin and life can change irrevocably, which is what happens here.

Andrew has experience in presenting one-person shows about family, which involve audience interaction; the bitter-sweet Every Brilliant Thing which Decadent staged for the 2023 Arts Festival, featuring Renmore woman Clare Barrett, was a resounding success.

He agrees but says Sea Wall is “a heavier piece”.

What fascinated Andrew at the preview was how men and women in the audience reacted so differently to Alex as his story unfolded.

“Towards the end, you could feel the women were leaning into him, while the men were completely uncomfortable and not able to engage.”

It might have been the response of a particular audience on a particular night, he adds, but it conveys the power of the piece.

“It’s one of these plays that stays with you. Afterwards, people were hanging round; it was like they were waiting to see if Alex was ok.”

Andrew was watching the preview with his professional hat on, looking to see where tweaking was needed, but those diverse reactions really struck him.

Pictured: Ian Lloyd Anderson as Alex in a one-man play that shows how life turns on a pin, according to director, Andrew Flynn.