Defending The Caveman (Tour – Newcastle)

The trouble with seeing theatre is, that as you watch it, life happens, it’s reflected there on stage; and this is certainly true to this reviewer.

While preparing for a night out at the Journal Tyne Theatre to see the much heralded Defending the Caveman, I had the task of walking my springer spaniel. On the journey home I was witness to a car accident that happened approximately 14 feet away from me. It was two men who were driving the cars; one of them was perhaps trying to impress his girlfriend with his driving skills, which in retrospect were sadly lacking. Minor collision later and the primeval instinct of impressing the girl with a show of bravado put this show in a new light for me.

At the start of the dialogue, Mark Little (Joe Mangle from Neighbours) is our hero and defends the Caveman in a monologue that is packed with everything you believe and dare not say about the opposite sex, and your male friends. When did we become so bad at communicating with the fairer sex. Why can’t men communicate with each other? If the two hours spent laughing out loud is anything to go by – always.

Our protagonist takes us from the hero providing the ‘kill’, while the woman gathers the berries, the grains, the wisdom and the knowledge. I was genuinely impressed by Little, he was as they say a consummate professional, giving a 100% performance. As a ‘bloke’ and a performer, undermining the ‘theatricality’ of certain lighting states, because a real man doesn’t go in for the detail.

The audience split was predominantly women, so sadly for the men in the north east, the women in the audience have gathered a little more information on men. While most of the men were obviously at home, playing with the remote control, or the Wii.

If this show returns to the north east, I recommend every man to see it and to connect with his inner caveman, and the women to ‘gather a little more wisdom’, so we can continue to communicate in the special bond that makes us at our very heart ‘primeval’. A fantastic night at the theatre, if only it had been a total sell out, it deserved to be.