Originally published by L.S. Media. October 29th 2011.

Written and performed by Graham Hicks

L.S Media Rating ****

An hour; it’s not long, 60 minutes in a life of say 70 years but what happens if in that hour you are awaiting the call that could change your life? Graham Hicks explores this in the utterly absorbing and off the wall Next!

There are few performers that can carry a production on their own for an hour, in recent times only the charming Bob Goulding in Morecambe, Claire Sweeney in Tell Me on a Sunday and Sarah Leaver in Memoirs of an Hermaphrodite has given this any idea of performance the credibility it deserves. It’s a just so hard to achieve and you can’t blame other actors or writers for not attempting to really bare their souls on stage.

Graham Hicks manages this with such style that watching him on stage is a sheer joy as he veers between high quality slapstick and utter heartbreak, whilst at all times holding his audience’s attention with a wonderful and commending attitude that marks this young man out as real gem in a city full of very talented actors.

With a set that was littered with an appeal that bordered on insanity, Graham Hicks first gave the enthralled and entertained audience one of those moments of delight as he showed his comedic timing off perfectly, first by simulating the surprise of receiving a tape through the post, from himself and then by listening to the tape and some of the surprising effects that this can have on a man’s psyche.

Even heartbreak and an admission of deep fears can you make someone laugh with you, then as a performer you know you have struck a deep vein of gold, silver and platinum appreciation. What Graham Hicks managed to do with the sudden change in shift to narration and showing his character to be flawed and neglected through circumstance only made you love this ultimate procrastinator even more.

Even at the end as he contemplates putting off answering the call that could change his life and just eat, quite frankly, the most disgusting sandwich, there is time for one more moment of pure genius as he blows out the candles, the lights to fade, the audience to give their heartfelt applause, only to find that the candles are self-lighting and he is shown up once more confused, lost but somewhat heroic in his isolation.

A wonderful play, well written and acted with precision. A must see.

Ian D. Hall