The age of hiding one’s misogyny is behind us. Thanks to pioneers like, Andrew Tate, advocating for the male right to speak their mind, misogynists are unshackled by the chains of silence. Out and proud. Four boys sit around a mike and do exactly that. A Tate wannabe, a lad, a “soyboy”, and an incel, though worlds apart, unite on their misogynistic propensities and problematic views.
The set up is exactly what you think it would be. A table with a podcast mike, and the four boys surrounding it. The gags are aplenty and full-on, based on the differing dynamics between the distinct characters. One just as brainwashed and misogynistic as the next, each bringing a different type of satirical content to the table. Though it’s satire, the fact that it’s verbatim theatre highlights the dire condition young boys and men are further entrenching themselves and each other in. As a response to the Andrew Tate pandemic, this piece of theatre is as scary as it is topical.
There is a sketch-like feeling to the way the show is put together. The acting isn’t world class but it does the job of parodying the heinous characters they set out to pick apart. It’s smart in the way the toxic masculinity, they all possess, is the very thing that turns them against each other and crumbles their rock hard sense of an Alpha male core.
Though the flow of the show isn’t necessarily seamless. Some points of tempo and beat shifts need some reworking. Refinement in stylistic choices would do the show a lot of good. But it’s a solid hour of exploring the shades that modern misogyny comes in. Works like these that try to deconstruct dangerous cultural phenomena are infinitely important. This piece is most definitely not a bad way to spend an early bit of your evening, getting informed about the Alpha male psyche, unfortunately on the rise.
The Alpha Podcast
20:15 @ TheSpace at Surgeons Hall – Theatre 3
Until August 26
