There is something rotten with the state of the world. Angst, social anxiety, fear and

total bewilderment combine in a one man play that looks despairingly at the world and

wonders why nothing makes any sense. A lecturer fears he is suffering a breakdown in

the new media age and sets off on a journey from the Isle of Wight to Prague in an

effort to run away from, and then eventually accept, reality. There are elements of

Hamlet’s endless thinking and madness, a Kafkaesque sense of being trapped and a

nihilistic look at life. How did the world get like this? Are we all guilty? It is

intelligent and thoughtful with the odd surreal interjections ensuring a light-hearted

feel. 'THREE WEEKS', THE EDINBURGH FESTIVALS'S LARGEST REVIEW NEWSPAPER

innocencent or guilty? Reality or delusion? Ginger or strawberry blonde? Macfarlane

likes to ask his audience the big questions. Beat Freak is an incredibly personal

piece, tracing one mans journey through paranoia and breakdown against a background

of G8 riots and eastern Europe. This could so easily become self-indulgent or bleak

but for MacFarlane's natural sense of the ridiculous. A disenchanted media lecturer

uses projector and flipchart to tell his story, the failed drug smuggling tale is

delivered in rap. If found guilty when the audience pass verdict upon him the

biggest person is made to wield the beating stick. Although this show is painfully

honest and exposing it is also about reflections: conversations with King Solomon

in the mirror, audience self-reflection and participation and the return home of

the author after an Alice-like journey.This is similar territory to his previous

play Writer's Block but shows increasing confidence with the use of autobiography

and multimedia. Macfarlane's strength lies in the combination of deep philosophcal

ideas and slapstick he calls rock and roll theatre but is very much like real life.

Dion Battersby (voted not guilty) 'THE EDGE', SOUTHAMPTON LISTINGS MAG

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