REVIEW: TIME FOR THE GOOD LOOKING BOY, The Unicorn Theatre, November 18 2009

With road closures outside the Unicorn Theatre making for an eerily quiet walk through the backstreets between London Bridge and Tower Bridge, the audience for Michael Wicherek's "Time for the Good Looking Boy" were already well-disposed towards an urban ghost story as the lights went down. No Friendly Caspers emerged from the dry ice - just a lad who looked much like the teens in the audience - Mackenzie top, Diesel Jeans and Adidas white trainers. And so it proved - the Boy is just a bit more good looking than average, just a bit more eloquent than average but, in the hands of the brilliant Lloyd Thomas, a whole lot more charismatic than average.

The Boy, alone on the spare set, fills it with his hazily focussed hopes for the future, his tongue-tied attempts to communicate his real feelings to his girl and his love for his mother and sister. The audience hooted with the laughter of recognition as Thomas perfectly pantomimed Beyonce-wannabees' gestures and language, then fell silent as Thomas' whole body displayed pent-up love and hate for The Boy's absent father. Slowly, we realise that The Boy is not all he seems and that his philosophy of "living for the moment" can exact a terrible price.

Coming in at just over an hour, a one-man show for a target audience notorious for its short attention span might be considered overly ambitious, but such is the sharpness of Wicherek's ear for the nuances of teen-talk and the power of Thomas' supercharged acting, that not a single teen texted her friend for the duration of the performance. And that is the mark of success.

Time for the Good Looking Boy is at the Unicorn Theatre on Friday 20 November and Saturday 21 November and then on tour. Further details and background material are available from boxclevertheatre.com.