by Zahid Fayyaz

Fresh from a sold-out month at the Edinburgh Fringe, Ben Target, former Perrier comedy award nominee, comes to London with a run of his highly acclaimed solo show. A return to the stage after spending the last few years collaborating with other artists, this is a brave and startling work.

Rather than go back into joke telling and pure stand up, this is a more theatrical offering. He tells the story of his family’s background, his attempts to recover from a mental breakdown and how he ended up looking after Lorenzo, an uncle chosen in name rather than biology, during the end of his life.  Whilst dealing with a tough subject, the piece is full of humanity and humour, with some laugh-out-loud funny and sweet moments. It doesn’t shy away from the more difficult topics, either. Less genial aspects of Lorenzo’s personality come to the fore at points of the narrative, and Target’s resentment of being an end-of-life carer is unsparingly depicted. There are certain moments of intensity which are hard to watch, such as Ben’s anger with his family that lingers from the past. However, the light and shade work extremely well together, and the performance itself is intensely moving and captivating. The workbench used as a set has been wonderfully constructed, with many surprises. The conclusion is certainly one which is especially spectacular in such a small space.

A wonderful show here, one of the most emotional of the year, and one worth catching at the Soho theatre and in any future life it may deservingly have.

Ben Target: Lorenzo runs through 14 October.

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