Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

As I would admit to being a bit of an anorak, I am itching to listen to this and it's every bit as intriguing as the title suggests. Six monologues written and performed by Eddie Williamson which are at turns sad and revealing. Six self-obsessed people share their world view and tell us about their lives. "Cowboy" is drunk, maudlin, sad and lonely after his marriage break up. "Reg" is a quiet bloke and tells us about conversations with his mate Frank who's a bit of a thinker and asks awkward questions about God and eternity. "George" is the oldest swinger in town clutching onto eternal youth and wondering out loud if you removed all of Joan Collins' nips and tucks, whether her face would fall on her shoulder! "Gary" is into new age and dismisses Christianity and goes off on some wonderful hippie style tangent, "I am a seeker I am a seeker, I am a new seeker and I'd like to teach the world to sing...". "Malcolm" works in the cheese factory and his life is dull but he looks at the people who walk past his flat and go to church and wonders what they're up to but won't check it out. "Margaret's parents divorced and their dysfunction left her drowning in the gutter and God is blamed. There's a bonus track with a series of moving letters between a teenage daughter and her dad who's left the family for a new woman. Ultimately Williamson creates some wonderful flawed characters, struggling like all of us to make sense of things, damaged by our experiences, fooling ourselves and following our own ways, avoiding the truth. He weaves Christian themes into the monologues but it's always sensitively done and there's plenty of gentle humour too. Thought provoking and rather sad, 'Six Anoraks In Search Of A Designer" is a very creative piece of drama.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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