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A darkly comedic, poignant exploration of survival amidst poverty, addiction, and loss. Jacob Ethan Tanner’s charismatic performance shines, though occasional line lapses slightly disrupt the emotional journey. Summary
Rating
Good
Futures Festival
David has found his calling: selling drugs to teenagers! Yay! It’s far from ideal, yes, and his own addiction is taking a toll, but he has to provide for his mom and younger sister somehow. It definitely beats having to choose between electricity and warm water.
Touching on themes that include poverty, the effect of drugs on people and their communities, loss, and even pollution, this play explores the complex and often harsh realities of life, highlighting the difficult choices people make to survive – and their consequences.
Before the play begins, we are treated to a trashed living room, with Welsh bangers blaring. A phone rings, and David stumbles on stage, faced bruised, missing a sock, sipping water out of a Starbucks cup. He’s banged his head on the extractor fan while cleaning up his dog’s mess – what a way to start the day!
After many relatable jokes and quips, along with comments on the local steelworks being both dangerous and polluting but necessary for the community, David recounts his life with unflinching irony. He lost his father at six years old, killed by a metal sheet while working overtime to support the family. At the time, his mother was heavily pregnant with his sister, Sophie. His only keepsake from his father is a Power Ranger figurine, still wrapped. It’s a story that might be recognised in many working class communities.
By sixteen, bullied by his peers, tired of poverty, and exposed to widespread drug addiction, David starts selling drugs to alleviate his family’s financial struggles. Soon, he becomes Port Talbot’s cocaine prince, and earns his nickname: Day-shunk.
Throughout the play, different facets of David emerge: he is a provider, protective of his sister and mother, witty, and rebellious, but he also lacks discipline, is impulsive, and he struggles with anger management. His sister escapes their environment to study at university in Bristol due to his financial support and lessons in how to assert herself, but David’s addiction worsens. This culminates in a harrowing scene where he threatens his mother with a knife and, when she tries to talk him down, he self-harms out of spite.
After becoming homeless for several months, David’s life begins to improve. He stops selling drugs, rebuilds his relationship with his mother, and eventually goes sober. However, tragedy strikes when his mother has a stroke on her own birthday. Her early death at only 54 leaves him alone, violent in his distress and isolation.
But he is not truly alone, as Sophie reaches out to him and he finally finds support when he listens. The production offers an optimistic ending with hope for change.
Jacob Ethan Tanner‘s performance is masterful. He makes the audience laugh, cry, and then laugh again, skilfully balancing humour and heartbreak. His ability to be ridiculously vulgar yet instantly switch to a tearful recount of his mother’s weak grasp and unrecognisable face, is remarkable.
The direction of the play, by Tanner and Issie Riley, is outstanding, maintaining a great pace and keeping the audience engaged throughout. However, there is one significant issue: on five different occasions, Tanner had to ask for his lines. Although this happened before the emotional climaxes of the performance, it was a noticeable disruption and an important area for improvement.
Despite this, it’s a powerful, funny and deeply moving production. Tanner is one of the most charismatic actors I have ever seen in a solo performance with unparalleled stage presence. With some refinements, this show has the potential to be truly exceptional.
Written by: Jacob Ethan Tanner
Directed by: Jacob Ethan Tanner and Issie Riley
Produced by: Issie Riley
Shunk plays as part of Futures Festival at The Pleasance until 25 May. Further information and bookings can be found here.
