Michael Patrick lost his father at the age of eight and suffered with a condition known as hydrocele testis (a buildup of fluid which causes the scrotum to swell) from the ages of fourteen to seventeen. My Left Nut is a comedic autobiographical play, telling the story of Patrick’s teenage years and his struggle to define masculinity with no father to guide him and a swollen testicle weighing him down.
I take my seat and digest the stage – bare, except for a chair, a green school-tie and pair of shoes. A young Catholic, the backdrop for Patrick’s youth is new Belfast, one vying for peace following decades of unrest. Amid this unsettled political landscape, he battles with the empty space left by his father. Patrick navigates through numerous scenes from his adolescence, rapidly moving between different characters – his best friends Tommy and Conor, his mother, an ultrasound technician and his doctor, just to name a few. Each scene advances his story, detailing formative experiences and displaying the effects on Michael’s character.
The play relies primarily on the acting talents of Patrick. This is Patrick’s performance, his story – lights are used subtly to indicate a scene shift , short sound clips add comedic effect on occasion. However, My Left Nut is all about how Patrick takes ownership of his journey through adolescence, and it is his agency that drives that story.
My Left Nut is essentially a collection of memories implanted in Patrick’s mind, that he has immortalised in the form of theatre, projecting moments from his youth onto the stage in an attempt to study the impact of exceptional circumstances on the process of growing up. Despite the idiosyncrasy of certain elements of Michael’s teenage years, the play succeeds in encapsulating the male adolescent experience. Ranging from Michael’s heart-warming exchanges with his mother to the crassness of sexual experimentation, the play explores a range of quintessential elements associated with maturing to adulthood – sex, societal expectations, self-identity. By the end of the play, a weight is lifted from Michael’s, ahem, shoulders, as he begins to form an image of who he is as a person. As Michael slips out of consciousness during surgery at the conclusion of the play, he revisits earlier scenes from his teenage years with a new sense of coherence. This play understands what it is to be a ‘coming of age’ drama.
For a play about testicles, My Left Nut is charming, a documentation of the struggle to find one’s true self in the face of personal trauma and public turmoil.
Written by Michael Patrick and Oisin Kearney, My Left Nut has been selected as one of this year’s “Show in a Bag” productions by Fishamble: The New Play Company, Irish Theatre Institute (ITI) and Dublin Fringe Festival. It runs at Bewely’s Café Theatre at Powerscourt from the 11th to 23rd September.
Rating: ●●●●○
