Review: RON (Riverside Studios)

Review by Daz Gale

⭐️

Over the last few years, Riverside Studios in Hammersmith have taken great steps to showcase the venue as more than a studio for TV shows, increasing their presence in theatre with some groundbreaking and incredible productions. Let's not forget this is where Operation Mincemeat played before its West End transfer, and that certainly isn't the only success story it has to its name. They are now looking to take the next step in their theatre programming with the premiere of their first-ever in-house co-production, signalling a new chapter as the venue celebrates its 50th anniversary. But will RON find itself at the right place at the right time, or will this genre-defying show get it very ron?

RON presents itself initially as a stand-up show by Tony Foot, though it makes it clear on the poster to confirm “this is not stand-up” and it really isn’t. Instead, we are treated to a tale of the friendship between Tony and Mike. After receiving the wrong order in McDonald’s, they take their frustration out on the poor, unsuspecting worker who just happens to be named Ron. Believing this must be THE Ron (as in Ronald McDonald himself), they do what any rational person would do and kidnap him. What follows is a crazy turn of events as the pair decides what to do with Ron, and tries to figure out their feelings for each other at the same time. There is a lot more to it, but really, it needs to be seen to be believed.

Now, I always talk about how subjective theatre is, and so too is comedy. While it would be wrong to dismiss the experience of the audience members around me who were clearly enjoying the show and laughing, I can only talk about my own personal experience. Sadly, I found the laughs to be as rare as discovering an extra McNugget in your McDonald’s meal. The problem I found wasn't just that it wasn't funny; it was that the writer and performer took great care to tell us how funny everything was. If you have to tell the audience something is funny, you are missing the point and actually doing your material a disservice. That said, with material as baffling and undercooked as this, I can hardly blame him. 

It is all well and good attempting to defy genres and refusing to conform, but the overwhelming thought I had during RON was that it had no idea what it wanted to be, making it near impossible for the audience to decipher it. Starting as a particularly and deliberately bad stand-up comedy routine, RON quickly takes a sharp turn as the horrors of the story start to unravel. There is a prominence on the absurdity with the misguided opinion that the content will pay off because it is absurd, with little to no thought given to bringing any sense of substance to the material at all. Add to that some weird moments including hand shadows that even a group of young schoolkids would deem as ridiculous, and a sense of physicality just for the sake of it, you are left with a show that doesn’t just fail to know what it wants to be, it also fails to understand what an audience wants from a show. I did find some of the themes in the show quite disturbing and incredibly poor taste - while I have never shied away from disturbing stories in theatre, it felt as if this was only there for shock value and served no real purpose apart from being random and chaotic.

At the heart of RON is Ted Walliker. Serving as the writer and co-director, he is also responsible for the lighting design, sound & music, and set & costume. Now, if some shows can suffer from a sense of “Too many cooks…”, RON is a perfect example of the opposite effect. With the exception of Lev Govorovsk, who joins as co-director and is involved in some of the design elements, RON drastically suffers from a lack of collaboration. From my experience, it is the art of collaboration that makes or breaks a show, and the shows that I have seen thriving are the ones that have benefited from second opinions and bouncing around ideas. Instead, Walliker has come up with an idea and run with it. While there is something admirable about that, he would have greatly benefited from being in a room where people had made some suggestions and changes to the show. What we have been left with is a chaotic show where every mind-boggling idea has been thrown together, no matter how jarring it is. The result is a show that may call itself genre-defying, but is more accurately completely incohesive and one of the messiest things I have ever seen.

That is not to take away from Ted Walliker’s clear talents, particularly as a performer. He is certainly charismatic and effortlessly carries the show on his own, but no man is an island, and he could have easily seen his talents lifted working with other people. Is there a good show lurking somewhere in RON? Quite honestly, I couldn’t tell you at this point. What I can say, however, is that this version does it no favours whatsoever, and does nothing to demonstrate Walliker’s abilities.

Though it ran for just one hour, RON proved to be one of the longest hours I have ever experienced in a theatre. I was taken in by the promise of it, and I always love to experience something different. I am a great believer that theatre shouldn’t always conform and should be ready to challenge the norms and be prepared to break the mould. That is what made this show such a bitter disappointment. Again, it is worth pointing out that theatre is subjective, and it was clear from looking around that other people were having vastly different experiences from mine. While there are certainly going to be people who liked it, it is also worth reminding that there are also people who go to McDonald's to order a salad - each to their own, but I will never be able to understand that myself. Where the poster for RON proudly states “This is not stand up”, you should take their word for it, as sadly this misfire doesn’t stand up to its potential, failing to be the killer show it aimed to be, and instead venturing too far down the wrong path.

RON plays at Riverside Studios until 15th July. Tickets from https://riversidestudios.co.uk/whats-on/Jf-ron/ 

Photos by Percy Walker-Smith