Angry Alan at NLT - So much to talk about...

Brianne Jang BB Collective Photography

Friday night I took in the Opening Night of Angry Alan presented by Northern Light Theatre, directed by Trevor Schmidt and starring Cody Porter. When I attended the season launch for NLT I thought the casting of Porter was so smart, because in just the preview the things that his character (Roger) said were highly inflammatory. Only someone like Porter could play this role and not have everyone dislike (hate?) him and Roger, outright. This was confirmed when I saw the show. 

Roger is disillusioned with his life. It clearly has not gone the way he thought it would. It has not gone the way he felt he was promised - promised by society and it's expectations - and then Roger finds the Men's Rights Movement online. His frustrations with the world (which he finds unfair and inexplicable) are echoed by online persona Angry Alan, whose video rants feed Roger's need for answers. What's to blame? Feminism... it has clearly gone too far. All of a sudden Roger has the philosophy that makes him feel like it's not his fault. He goes down the rabbit hole and it leads to no good. 

I don't want to give all the story away, but it did go somewhere I totally did not expect. Depending on your personal perspective the first 2/3 of the play is really funny, if you forget that some people really believe what Roger is parroting. But at a certain point, you can't help but remember. Clips of some of the worst online offenders for spreading the myths of men's persecutions (I don't want to name them because they don't need any more presence than they already have) can't help but remind you that these predators are filling the heads of men out there with a lot of dangerous garbage. 

Brianne Jang BB Collective
Photography

It was an excellent night of theatre. Porter is spot-on, believable and human, and you get why Roger goes down the path he does. Schmidt's direction leads us through this journey subtly, and the piece as a whole is intensely conversation provoking. I had several conversations with people immediately after the play, and on the ride home, and then throughout the following day - discussing how this brain-washing happens. We're all a bit culpable but most of us won't admit it. Roger talks about how men are conditioned not to share their feelings. He says this more than once. I've heard men in my life (brothers, friends, colleagues) express frustrations and have them brushed aside or belittled or chastised because they are 'white middleclass men who have nothing to complain about because of their privilege'. When someone can't even have the conversation they need to have because they feel belittled or dismissed, all that frustration is going to get bottled up until they eventually explode, or a vacuum is created and there's always some vitriol on the internet to fill the void. With Roger, both happen, and it's not good for him or anybody else.

I'm still thinking about this. I will probably have many more conversations about it. I think we all should, and we all need to be listening instead of shouting. It's so incredibly timely. 

I'd recommend this, but please be prepared to have your assumptions challenged. 

Angry Alan is playing in the Studio Theatre Inside Fringe Theatre Adventures until February 8, 2025. The space is small so get your tickets sooner rather than later. Tickets range from $22-$37 with Pay-What-You-Can and 2-for-1 Nights during the run. You can purchase your tickets here.