“One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter”. This one-man show looks at what is wrong with Western society from an unusual viewpoint. What would be the best place for the “World’s Most Wanted” man to hide? Is it a cave in Afghanistan, or the last place anyone would think of looking, a shopping mall in Florida. In this production Osama Bin Laden is actually working in a grotto as Santa Claus, the most hated man in America posing as the most loved.

“Santa” starts by telling us about the rules of being a Santa, always stay in character, never be seen with another Santa, never let children sit on your lap unless you have parental permission, and from this starts to talk about what is wrong in America, the faults in society, as he talks he focuses on war, listing all the places America has invaded and asking why.

The monologue has its lighter moments, children telling Santa what they what for Christmas and there are moments of humour, but these become further and further apart however as the piece progresses. It could perhaps benefit from more of its early humour throughout, towards the end it does start to feel like a talk or lecture, and the audience it is likely to attract are probably well aware of the information shared. From what I’d heard of this show I had expected either a full out attack on America and George Bush or perhaps or an opportunity to make a mockery of Bin Laden, but really it was neither. It was instead a look at western society from the outside with insights to make us stop and think about the war from the other side.

Well written and well performed this was a challenging but riveting production. It is a shame that it has such a late time slot, as it deserved a much better audience than the four strong it had when I attended. If political satire is high on your list of wants then make the effort to go down to Stockbridge for half ten.

Theatre Workshop
Aug 15-20, 22-27 at 22:30