Described as
a “performance lecture”, The Price Of Everything is a piece of theatre, a
lecture and a stand-up show all spliced together to form a unique one man show
with the articulate and intelligent Daniel Bye at the helm. It’s like a
collaboration between Al Gore, Stewart Lee and a local dairy farmer. If the
performance was milk it would be skimmed, as there's not an ounce of fat in the
whole hour.
The show was
post-modern and deconstructive, exploring the manipulation of audiences as well
as the concept of value. A glass of milk became the currency of choice as Bye
explored, well, the price of everything. Using a mixture of surreal allegories
and hard facts, Bye delved into the world’s idea of worth and what our society
values with a charm and likeability which made these complex ideas thoroughly
accessible.
There was
also a degree of self conscious satire as Bye demonstrated the callousness of
the Conservative government and free market capitalism. The show ended on a tale
espousing the need for kindness, even just the smallest, tiniest bit of
kindness, which was reminiscent of Danny Wallace’s Join Me
movement.
Bye aimed to
plant a small seed in the audience’s minds, only time will tell if he succeeded
but you can see the progress being made here.
Matt Watts
