Karper is a maestro

“Some shows just work.  And despite a subject matter that threatens little short of a nostalgic wallow, American pianist/storyteller Bob Karper’s musings on the loved, lovesick and loveless is one of them.  And although the focus is on how the humiliations of his upbringing have shaped his adult relationships, it is the array of supporting characters Karper draws upon that give his vignettes a life and heart of their own.  This generosity is crucial. With more than an hour devoted to the life and loves of one man and his close friends and family, the spectre of self-indulgence looms large.  Karper sidesteps this through the weight of affection he has for his subjects. 

For instance, Karper ensures that in the story of the break-up of his mother’s first marriage to an adulterous salesman, she never loses our sympathy despite her cruel revenge.  In fact, he paints her so vividly that when we hear she found love, the ‘aah’s are almost audible.

But as engaging as his unseen co-stars are, Karper’s crowning glory is the elongated anecdote that gives the show its title.  His father’s compulsion to dress his children up to match the music they played at recitals – the inglorious pinnacle being Grieg and lederhosen – may have cost Karper the love of his childhood sweetheart, but it gives the evening a cracking bitterly sweet climax.  The confessional one-man is all about empathy and Karper is a maestro.”

— Mark Shenton, The Stage