Be Prepared

“I just buried a man.” So begins this brilliantly performed if flawed monologue from writer/actor Ian Bonar. We are attendees at a funeral; we're even given service sheets. 

Bonar’s subject is loss; of partners, of parents, of memories. He takes us on an odyssey spanning frantic funeral preparations, the wartime experiences of an ancestor, and his own in a scout troupe, with their motto ‘be prepared’. 

He is grieving for his father, and longs to smell his coat again; the scent of the Monster Munch crisps he used to buy him. He speaks frenetically, voicing characters from a coffin seller to the Prime Minister. Bonar’s ability to hold his audience is superb, right up there with the finest solo storytellers. And his use of a small keyboard to provide sporadic musical accompaniment brings welcome levity.

But for all his skill in delivery the narrative is messy. It’s hard to find the thread, and although sections are gripping in isolation—an undertaker describing his bloated, farting corpses, for example—the tapestry struggles to hang together. It feels like a surfeit of ideas vying for position rather than working in cohesion. On occasion it isn’t clear which of his myriad cast of characters is speaking, creating a disorientating experience. 

These reservations aside, it’s still worth seeing for Bonar’s virtuoso performance alone. And with careful further development to refine its central narrative, Be Prepared could be a knockout.