Sunday, August 29, 2010

Monopoly by Mike Daisey

The Half Moon Theatre, Cork, Ireland
Tuesday 15th of June 2010
As part of The Cork Midsummer Festival


An extremely talented writer and performer, Daisey’s performance was a thoroughly thought provoking experience. His satirical monologue based on the lack of control one has over their life was something I had never seen on stage before. Daisey is a unique individual who adorns the stage and his stories with his personal belief that no isn't good anyone.


"Never get anyones permission." That is what Mike Daisey said to me after the performance. This principle which he lives by is clearly evident in his storytelling - he talks about what HE wants to talk about and he says what HE wants to say. You can love it or hate it, agree or disagree, open your mind or close your mind, either way, he doesn't care. His freedom is inspirational.


His conviction to the spoken word stems from his belief that the written word has become dead and cliched, this is why he relishes in the world of storytelling. His profound ability to hold his audience throughout his entire monologue was truly exceptional. The skill involved in ensuring that his energy did not falter for a second was astounding.The simplicity of the set gave flight to Daisey’s words and their meaning. The subtle lighting changes added tremendously to the overall theme and context of each section of the monologue while the performance itself oozed professionalism and dedication.

However the piece was not entirely flawless as it exceeded its expected finish time of one hour and twenty minutes, by forty minutes, making the piece two hours long with no interval.This is due to the fact that Daisey  does not work from a set script but from notes which allows for uncontrolled improvisation.  My attention span was most definitely challenged as the material in the performance was demanding.

I also felt that the ending would have worked a lot better if Daisey had finished on the suggestion of ‘Monopoly’ as a metaphor rather than continuing on for another half an hour of relating the story back to himself personally. An audience needs to be surprised and tested, thought must be stimulated within them and I felt that the concept of the metaphor succeeded wholly in provoking that thought within an audience. It was a shame to see a wonderful message saturated.

Although the length was far too long, Daisey was still received extremely well by the audience and left the stage to a standing ovation. His Art in the form of performance and the spoken word inspires one to push themselves to be better, to live with no inhibitions and to never take no for an answer.

Mike Daisey stands alone.

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- C.C Greene