Turtle: A Story About Christ, Cancer, Kinks, and Christmas was written and performed by Blake Stratso, and directed by Alex Osborne.
Turtle was branded “God’s Challenge” by Sister Jo, a teacher in his Catholic school, after (amongst other things) asking what could be defined as normal childlike questions during a sex education lesson. This nickname has stayed in his head ever since, along with many other experiences from his youth. His Catholic schooling, and the guilt that remained with him from it, have had a huge impact on him. This show was a one man show, with Blake Stratso as Turtle, talking about his life. The presentation of it was so conversational it almost looked unscripted. There were other characters introduced via voice recordings, and this was an effective way of introducing different scenarios and fleshing out Turtle’s backstory. The timing of these clips was absolutely perfect and fitted in seamlessly with the narrative being presented.
The adult Turtle initially comes across as arrogant, oblivious to his faults, and completely obsessed with talking about sex and masturbation. He admits he’s obsessed with “the kind of porn that makes you feel guilty”, which leads to a hilarious scene in a confessional when he reads out his browsing history to the unfortunate priest. Turtle speaks with the kind of brash over-confident tone you can’t switch off from, and at times the character gives the impression of being selfish. This was so well performed, as the switches between this outward facing persona and the truth buried within brought home the reality of the life he is living, the trauma he's experienced and the deeply embedded Catholic guilt that are having more of an impact on him than he wants to admit.
The set was made up of a bar stool on a rug. Simple, and definitely all that was needed. The focus was very much on the performance, with expessive (and amusing) facial expressions and hand gestures for emphasis at just the right moments. There was a seamless shift between multiple timelines, which was cleverly done and enabled the switch between serious and amusing anecdotes to happen in a heartbeat.
The extrovert discussions about Turtle’s life, essentially, are such a huge contrast to when he is talking about the issues that really matter, and show a buried sensitive side to the character, full of pain and uncertainty. During these descriptions the delivery changes dramatically, showing inner turmoil and an almost complete cessation of the bravado of the outer mask shown at other times. The last part of this show was devastating.
I first saw Blake Stratso in a rehearsed reading for another play. On the strength of his performance in that, I found myself thinking, I bet he’d be really entertaining in anything. This was the reason I was keen to see Turtle. I was not disappointed; as a performer he is engaging from start to finish, really funny at times, and also able to switch between a convincing performance of brash over-confidence, and brutal vulnerability in an instant.
I am really interested to see what the future holds for Turtle.
⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2
Turtle was performed at Aces and Eights on 31 July and 7 August as part of Camden Fringe.
So very proud! 🙏🏿❤️