Published: 13 May 2010
by ANNA LEACH

IT is as if fledgling playwright Tom Wells was set a party game challenge to write a play with random topics called out by guests. “Knitting!” called one, followed by “Penguins!”, “Battenberg!” and finally “The gay scene in Hull!”.  

That is not to suggest the plot of Me, As A Penguin is unconvincing. Apart from one factual inaccuracy (there are no penguins in Hull Aquarium), the emotional crisis of Stitch, a knitting-obsessed, shy 22-year-old gay man staying with his very pregnant sister Liz and her partner Mark, is very believable. 

Wells has a great ear for dialogue and the short and nicely-formed play sparkles with perky northern one-liners such as Liz’s comment about Battenberg: “Wonder who first thought, cake’s okay, but taste’s better in a grid”.  

The play is well-cast. Ian Bonar is as adorable as the baby penguin he relates to so much, hunched-over in his cardigan. He is equally good when poor Stitch reaches the nadir of his depression and when the audience catches a  glimpse of him coming alive, dancing to Lips Inc’s Funky Town. Samantha Power is a spiky and protective big sister, John Catterall is an over-grown boy approaching fatherhood but trying not to think about it and Daniel Abelson is devoid of tact as macho penguin-keeper Dave. 

The play’s end came abruptly, without Stitch’s trauma totally resolved, so perhaps Wells should revisit the character in a sequel. Whatever he does, it is  clear from this debut that Tom Wells is a play­wright to watch.  

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