Above: Oliver Mol, writer and performer of Train Lord, currently playing at the Old 505 Theatre Newtown and streaming live as part of the 2020 Sydney Fringe Festival / Global Fringe
Train Lord, written and performed by Oliver Mol is a well blended and no-holds-barred slice of life that has us hanging on every word. This work’s humanity, humour and heartache slip out in lilting, engaging rhythm.
As Oliver refers to a trying time of ten months in chronic pain, he shunts back and forth in quite stunningly seamless segue to give us vivid description of childhood, school, relatives, workmates, fellow sufferers, experimentation, failure and fear for the future.
This is honest, heart-on-the-sleeve stuff, much needed at this time. It’s charming directness is never delayed at any storytelling station for long. As Mol openly shares a history and horrors, including ten months of migraine pain that rearranged his life and coping mechanisms, our own 2020 worlds, hammered by the impact of pandemic, are soothed through his no-nonsense delivery.
The monologue contains poetry to rock us into Oliver’s familiar with the regular jostling of a cosy long journey. Along the way pointed references to wider social issues and predicaments than his own trip are nicely networked into the script.His true story of quitting writing to cope with illness and the impact of pain, then a default career for a time as a train guard is riveting and captivatingly accessible storytelling.
As a one-man show, Train Lord never loses momentum. When vignettes get dense, some superb visuals from Kat Chellos engulf the performer and the white-screen, curtained corner of the superbly socially distanced intimacy of Newtown’s Old 505 Theatre.
This hectic visual texture boldly supports the material’s announcements which are eagerly absorbed by the assembled. The soundtrack, which carefully enhances some of the trickiest bends in the storytelling and gently helps Oliver along the tracks is made of finely entwined sections of soundscape from creatives Thomas Gray and Liam Ebbs.
This is worthwhile listening for anyone resurfacing from a period of hurt, medical treatment, family drama or unsafe unravelling. As we all have experience in some of the above, or have had a rough ride with someone going through such a period, this piece is a highly relevant and enduring one for audiences globally.
On a very well managed night out at essential live theatre with a tight Covid-Safe Plan, such content made me want to stay safe more than ever, being mindful of other passengers in my carriage.
Sydney Fringe events continue for the following two Wednesdays at the Old 505 Theatre, and are streamed as well.
