The standard Coronation Street actor’s career progression after leaving the show usually involves a stint in Emmerdale, Hollyoaks, EastEnders or all of the above.
Seminal Russian literature isn’t your normal route but then former Corrie villain Brian Capron isn’t your normal soap star - here, he showed why.
Richard Crane’s one-man show took elements of two of Nikolai Gogol’s 19th-century stories, The Overcoat and The Nose, transplanting them into the empty existence of a 1970s bureaucrat.
The audience all around in a perfect circle, Capron begun the show sat alone on a stool as he recounted his daily routine, the quintessential socially awkward office nothing-man. Wearing a rapidly deteriorating overcoat, our protagonist showed a hilarious dedication to being average in every way possible.
Faynia Williams’s simple direction involved his turning like a dial on a clock to speak in monotonous intervals. This was a striking conceit that worked particularly well when things started to fall apart as a chance encounter and a new idea to fill his time put in motion a change in personality.
As ego came into play Capron’s character purchased a new coat, proving the unlikely catalyst for a nervous breakdown. The acclaimed Brighton-based violinist and well-travelled session musician Nick Pynn’s score perfectly illustrated the peaks and troughs through mournful strings and rollicking rock.
A gibberish ending recalled the original author’s gift for language as an emotional wreck was presented without melodrama but believable, tragicomic compassion, presented in an altogether classy package.
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