“This was a piece of theatre that was carefully crafted…Tom’s performance was remarkable”
Beth Spencer
4 out of 5 big fat lies
Festival Hub – Melbourne Fringe Festival
Melbourne
02 – 06 Oct 2024
Tom Moran lies. But in this piece he attempts to tell the truth behind those lies. This was a rollercoaster of a show that was funny, shocking, sad, intriguing, and perplexing all in the space of 70 mins.
On the Melbourne Fringe Festival website they have attached the tags “earnest”, “inspiring”, and “witty” to this performance. It was certainly all of those things as Tom Moran took the audience through an exploration of his life so far. This focused a lot on his core motivation to please other people, his struggles with his weight, the influence of his peers, and how that has led him to be the person that he is today. Add in the complexity of doing this in a way that his parents might see, and you have the recipe for humour and pathos in equal measure.
Tom’s performance was remarkable. He is clearly an actor of great skill, and while maybe not as recognisable to Australian audiences as he is in his home country of Ireland, his story was in many ways universal. This was a piece of theatre that was carefully crafted with the seamless use of sound effects, lighting, and a single microphone to transition the action between now and stories from the past. His rapid-pace delivery of internal thoughts and feelings was confronting and raw, before bringing the audience back to reality with a witty memory or observation.
Tom engaged the audience throughout with questions, eye contact, and relatable situations that helped to connect his story with our own.
This is a theatrical experience that leaves the audience considering why we are so driven to please others, and why it matters so much to the choices we make in our lives. Most importantly, it makes us realise the value of truth in our relationships with our friends, our families… and our therapists.
Beth Spencer, Theatre Now
