Edinburgh Fringe Preview: Winky - "I haven't laughed so much in weeks."

By Helena Payne

Winky is the most peculiarly brilliant theatrical experience to which I’ve had the good fortune to be invited for quite some time. The production originates from a short story by George Saunders, winner of the 2014 Folio Prize. An attempt to explain the premise of the piece would result in something along the lines of “man attends a self-help seminar, decides to confront his sister who he twigs is his metaphorical “oatmeal crapper” or source of all his woe,” but it really wouldn’t do this painfully entertaining out of body experience justice. The director, Josh Roche is clearly in need of medical attention or a complete genius. I haven’t laughed so much in weeks; and I laugh a lot.

Before the performance even begins, we are on the back foot. There are paper party hats waiting expectantly as we take our seats and Lauren Stone playing Vicky, a sort of hang-dog narrator reminiscent of Roz, the slug lady from Monsters Inc., sits at a desk titled “Confrontation Centre” populated with the strangest array of kitsch objects I’ve ever seen. She glares at everyone with the gormless glazed eyes of a woman thoroughly disappointed with her life and to be honest, pissed off that we are there. It is undeniably ugly, an awkward and incongruous arrangement of lurid colours and synthetic textures. A giant pink tasselled heart hangs in pride of place centre stage and the layout of the seating does feel like a seminar. I will not detail every item of the pre-set, but the overall effect is splendidly weird and a real delight as we clock each object waiting for the performance to begin.

Tom Rodgers played by Ed Davis is simply sublime. His mannerisms are oily yet mechanical as he guides us on our way to enlightenment. There is some fantastic hair-acting as he tosses and struts, interacting with the audience. Clearly revelling in this outrageous character he spoon-feeds us his pseudo-philosophy and self-help mantras, my favourite being, “Were Vikings killed on motorways?” His anthem though is “Now is the time to win,” and we realise he’s as callous as he is smarmy, postulating that if one feels they are losing at life it is someone else’s fault. This person is the metaphorical “oatmeal crapper” (someone who craps in the oatmeal of your existence) and it is this person who needs to be stopped. Since the script is lifted verbatim from the short story, Rodgers’ speech works particularly well but things get more surreal as we move to the point of view of Neil Yaniky, played by Joe Boylan.

Again, lifted from the text directly, the actors refer to themselves in third person, which at first is very unsettling – but they act so beautifully against or with the language, it is most effective. Yaniky has been sitting in the audience the whole time. Like us, he is attending the self-help seminar and, in conversation with the dastardly Rodgers, identifies his sister Winky as the reason nothing seems to be going right for him. Winky, we learn, is ugly, is crazy religious and lives with him. Rodgers postulates that her appearance or zealotry wouldn’t be a problem if she was removed from his house, and thus begins Yaniky’s mission. Winky, played by Amy Tobias, is undoubtedly my favourite characterisation. The story cuts between their contrasting opinions of each other as Yaniky prepares to proverbially dump his sister and Winky prepares for his arrival home. In sandals and socks, her hair mussed and greying we are walked through Winky’s extraordinary perspective on life. She muses on her outward ugliness, a fact undisputed by the world of the play and her attitude is commendably and tragically positive. Regarding her hair she reflects, “This is not hair. This is a test.” She defiantly sees every misfortune as an opportunity to be a better person and, despite her strange mannerisms and peculiar rhetoric, is indisputably the most beautiful character on stage. Compared to the deflated Vicky, opportunistic Rodgers, jealous and destructive Yaniky, Winky is a creator, constantly sorting, cleaning and preparing for her brother’s return. Abetted by Tobias’ diminutive stature, she appears child-like, innocent and naïve to the harsh reality of the situation around her.

As their stories begin to intertwine, Yaniky returns to Winky’s tea party but just resolutely bulldozes through her carefully arranged bunting, sending Winky’s world into disarray as she stands in a trolley twinkling with fairy lights. It is such a powerful image and poignant moment representative of the loss of innocence, as Winky becomes aware that her brother does not reciprocate her unconditional love. With his honeyed words, Rodgers has corrupted Yaniky, teaching him his religion of egocentricity and the collateral are the meek and the mild.

It is often easier to blame someone else for our short-comings, but it isn’t ever right. Winky is a brilliantly conceived, wonderfully performed piece of theatre that dupes us into thinking it’s no more than a surreal comedy but gets you by the jugular at the end. It delicately poses questions on how you define ugliness, an incredibly timely topic in our aesthetically obsessed culture. The images created are unforgettable and every performance is a gem. At the end, Yaniky defiantly storms in to the glittering pink heart, supposedly pursuing the erotic dreams he believes his sister is the reason he can’t realise. In fact, he is turning his back on the only person who genuinely loves him. I look forward to seeing how it is received in Edinburgh and will be thinking about Winky for a long time.

For tickets and further information visit http://www.sohotheatre.com/whats-on/winky

or https://www.edfringe.com/whats-on/theatre/winky for the show's forthcoming stint at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

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