Troll (Keyboard Warrior) is a fantastically well-crafted and topical production that will keep you laughing all the way through, but its gut-punching finale may leave you more pensive than amused.
Troll revolves around Tom Oliver Hunter, an IT assistant, whose life has become rather stale. His girlfriend has left him and his flatmates, Mac and Percy, are driving him up the wall.
When Tom stumbles upon a potential new romance, his subsequent good mood drives him to a fateful decision to defend a celebrity on Twitter who is being abused by online trolls.
His life changes forever when his comment goes viral overnight.
Combating the abusive trolls with positivity, Tom assumes the mantel of Troll Hunter derived by his fans from his Twitter name @thunter and he becomes increasingly more famous.
Nothing lasts forever however and several bad decisions threaten to destroy everything Tom has achieved and more.
The brilliance with which Troll presents the unique world of the internet on stage is certainly worthy of praise. The dialogue is sharp, witty and genuinely hilarious, with cleverly written and insightful jokes, as well as a whole host of puns, a favourite of internet users.
There are numerous highlights, including when Tom dons Percy’s homemade Troll Hunter costume, leading Mac to comment: “It looks like Pixar started to design gimp outfits.”
None of the banter or conversation feels forced, thanks to clever writing and consistently top class acting by all four performers.
Coupled with the use of Tweets projected behind the stage and a great sound track from some of the internet’s most popular stars, its portrayal of the online world is spot on.
Perhaps Troll’s biggest achievement is that it truly makes you think about the effects of ‘trolling’ on the lives of others.
The wrenching contrast between the lively, light-hearted first half of the production, which very abruptly becomes something serious and tragic, really drives the point home. It’s disturbingly similar to how ‘trolling’ can end online, where it’s all a big joke until someone gets hurt.
Troll provides plenty of laughs, but like any great piece of comedic drama it carries a powerful and relevant message that really strikes a chord with anyone aware of current internet culture.
Troll (Keyboard Warrior) is written by Mick Cooper, directed by Chloe Lang and stars Andrew Marsden, Tom Ingham, John Weaver & Hannah Ellis.
To book tickets at £7 for either September 12, 19:30, or September 15, 15:00, visit http://www.wegottickets.com/location/2425 or call 0161 839 8726.
For more on this story and many others, follow Mancunian Matters on Twitter and Facebook.
