And who said one man can’t do it all?
Oh “Tings Dey Happen” really did happen!
Dan Hoyle, the writer and the sole performer of the 90-minute production “Things Dey Happen” was able to keep the audience at the edge of their seats laughing incessantly while taking them through his journey to Nigeria. What is even more surprising is that he was able to do it all by himself in a tiny theater in Soho with nothing but a chair, a box and pitch black walls.
The story takes place in Nigeria, an oil rich country where anything goes. People get murdered, kidnapped jailed for the wrong reasons and all because of oil greedy companies that pay off the Nigerian government for their own interests.
Dan Hoyle, having spent a year in Niger Delta as a Fulbright scholar is able to recreate all of his most staggering experiences right before our eyes. He’s able to blend kidnapping, prostitution and everything else he witnessed into a comedy. Moreover, because this is a one-man show, Dan Hoyle has to be able to switch roles at an amazingly quick pace between characters ranging from a prostitute to an American ambassador. At times you can almost see two different characters at the same instant even though Dan Hoyle is the only performer. This is both, a strong point and the only weakness in the play. Even though it is entertaining to see the same actor as an American ambassador one second and as a the Nigerian prostitute the next, at times it does get difficult to follow. Despite this single flaw it is unbelievable how one actor can keep his audience at the edges of their seats for 90 minutes straight.
What is even more surprising is that nearly all characters in the play are African, each with a unique accent. Dan Hoyle is just one white man, but that didn’t stop him from mastering a whole array of different accents. One moment he is a Nigerian Rebel, the next he is an American ambassador, then a Scottish oil worker. And he is able to recreate each one of those accents with an amazing accuracy. It is shocking and very difficult for a mind to comprehend a single white actor transform into so many different characters, but nevertheless it is remarkable to see someone who is able to successfully do all that.
Not only is Dan Hoyle able to take us on his journey to Nigeria, he is also able to introduce the real problems of today’s world in Niger Delta and makes us sympathize for the many poor people there. Whoever came up with the cliché: “One man can’t do it all” was clearly proven wrong by Dan Hoyle, who was able to do both, successfully write and perform “Tings Dey Happen,” Culture Project latest production.