Lewis Doherty has just a stool, a face mic and some LED bicycle lights to accompany him during this one hour, one-person tale of adventure, revenge and heroinism. Doherty’s previous example of this genre was Wolf, a cyber-punk, detective fiction number. This time he extracts the characters and the clichés from fantasy adventure and wraps them up in his special package of solo showmanship to present Boar.

He plays all the characters, it says here there are over 40, and he voices all the effects. He’s like a theatrical beat-boxer who’s gone boss-eyed watching too many boxed sets of Outlander, The Last Kingdom and Game of you-know-what. There is blood, carnage and violence… and it’s all in your imagination. With splendid mime and  impressive vocal caricatures Doherty spins from Pirate to shipmate, from hero to rogue, and back again. There’s a lot of whooshing and swishing as he does this and occasionally you might lose a word of dialogue as he goes; but if you keep focused you’ll see that the story is smart, witty and well written.

Despite the violence, or perhaps because of it, this show is surprisingly funny. Doherty’s script is fast-paced and clever, and punctuated with comic moments. There is tension, twists and terror. Towards the end there is even a touch of romance and a dash of pathos. Perhaps a tad more would have helped make the show a rounder experience. The complexities of the script are neat and well thought out, although you occasionally lose track of the characters and the ping-pong banter tires a little as Doherty swishes from side to side. The simpler sections are easier to follow and the subtle lighting colour changes were useful. There is no director mentioned for this show, maybe some outside thoughts would have helped, but it’s a small detail for such an individual performance.

It’s a highly entertaining, hour-long show and Doherty is certainly skilful at what he does in managing to portray such a variety of characters. My favourites were the yuppie prince, the cabin boy and the bug-eyed monster. The accents, whilst corny, are effective and amusing. Doherty has an singular talent in depicting and ‘vocalising’ all the props; he brings to life swords, doors, horses and furniture. His throat was noticeably dry at the end of the performance as he thanked the audience and shook hands with us as we departed. A nice touch from an engaging and amiable performer.   ★★★☆☆    Adrian Mantle  6th March 2020