Review of Olly Hawes's 'Old Fat F**k Up' at Riverside Studios
- Russell
- 13 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Old Fat F**k Up , written and performed by Olly Hawes, is a bold, brutally honest, and often uncomfortable exploration of modern masculinity, middle-aged disappointment, and the fraught landscape of fatherhood. With direction from P. Burton-Morgan, the piece sits somewhere between confessional monologue, theatrical experiment, and stand-up therapy session.
From the outset, Hawes sets a distinctive tone. Standing on a bare stage with minimal props, he addresses the audience directly, breaking down the barrier between performer and spectator. His early acknowledgement that this is not stand-up prepares us for something more introspective. The writing captures the monotony and frustration of everyday domesticity - the leaking boiler, the sleepless nights, the relentless feeling of being one small mistake away from chaos. There’s a dry humour to his storytelling that keeps things accessible even as the emotional terrain deepens.
Hawes’s performance is engaging throughout. He has a natural ease on stage, and his ability to shift from humour to anguish is impressive. The moments where the play cuts close to the bone are undoubtedly its strongest. A particularly striking scene - in which his character slaps his young child - lands with devastating power. It is raw, sudden, and heartbreakingly believable. Hawes handles the aftermath of that act with great sensitivity, allowing the silence to speak volumes. In that moment, the play transcends its theatrical frame and becomes something deeply human.
Yet, for all its emotional potency, Old Fat F**k Up is uneven in tone. There are moments where the writing feels self-indulgent or the humour misfires. A scene involving the character masturbating simply doesn’t work. While it may aim to expose the private shame and absurdity of male vulnerability, it feels forced and jars against the otherwise finely drawn realism. It’s one of several points where the show overreaches, trying to shock rather than illuminate.
The piece also wrestles with structure. Its early meta-theatrical framing - Hawes commenting on the nature of storytelling and authenticity - promises a complexity that isn’t fully sustained. As the narrative progresses, it sometimes slips into repetition, circling around familiar ideas about failure, fatherhood, and identity without always finding new ground. The rhythm falters just when it could push deeper into its most resonant themes.
Still, there’s much to admire. Hawes’s writing is sharp and self-aware, and his willingness to expose the raw nerves of male insecurity is both brave and timely. The production design’s simplicity - stark lighting, empty space, the absence of artifice - underscores the central conceit: this is a man stripped bare, emotionally and spiritually.
Ultimately, Old Fat F**k Up is a thoughtful and frequently moving piece that confronts the messy realities of masculinity in crisis. It doesn’t always succeed in balancing its humour and its heartbreak, and some scenes detract from the emotional momentum, but at its best, it’s unflinching, honest theatre that lingers long after the lights go down.
RIVERSIDE STUDIOS
5th November – 20th December (25 performances)
Comments