Show Rating:

Dan March undoubtedly has an interesting and heartfelt story to tell. He discovered he was a father when a one-night stand sent him a message on MySpace, and here he recounts the story of what happened and how he is dealing with the results of a boozy night two years ago. It is a cautionary tale, but a warming one.

March welcomes his audience with bribes of sweets and a short Q&A session to determine who else has fallen victim to a one-night stand. He is charming and witty with his banter and comes across as a very personable chap. But this free-flowing chat ends up affecting him adversely.

When March begins his story proper, he adopts a theatrical style, as learned from his time in drama school. But some of the passion and personability is lost due to the heavy scripting, and the contrast between March’s informal chatting and his very formal acting is marked.

There is no doubt in my mind that this is a true story, and it is mostly told without exaggeration, save for a few obvious jokes which keep him out of the theatre section of the Fringe programme; but it feels like a play and that really detracts from the quality of the show.

It is an amazing and dramatic journey through this man’s life, but it would be so much more convincing and touching if retold without all the theatrics.

Reviewed by: Corry Shaw