No Hard Felix (which we were lucky enough to chat about on our YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/XGVd8qTDmRY) is a powerful yet hilarious exploration of the rise of toxic masculinity, told entirely through the perspective of the dragon-wielding Felix, who struggles with an intimate form of performance anxiety. Despite being told through the lens of the stereotypical alpha finance bro, the team takes the audience on a deeply moving journey through failed hook-ups, a unique gay experience and even slam poetry, showing that sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is ask for help.
The show follows the life of the supposed alpha male Felix as he is forced to address his issues with erectile dysfunction, causing him to truly re-evaluate not only masculinity as a concept but also what it means to become an actual man. The start of the show sees Felix boast about not only his running personal best, his job and the plethora of women he has supposedly slept with, but also all the other things toxically masculine men tend to show off. This is only exacerbated by the fact that the short scenes are completed with Felix showcasing a James Bond-style pose, which not only fits the character flawlessly but also helps the audience easily follow the transitions in time and place. This ridiculously over-the-top, caricature-style sequence appears frequently throughout the show, but as the cracks in Felix’s manosphere presentation begin to show, these poses become less and less powerful, marking his slow withdrawal from the manosphere itself. At one point in the show, Felix decides to explore his sexuality (as he believes that the fault with little Felix must be down to the women he is choosing to bring home) and ends up meeting a random stranger in a bar. The person he connects with is presenting himself as ‘Daddy’, which confuses the naive Felix, as he thinks this is a personal nickname and could, in fact, be his father in disguise. Because of this, he finds himself in the stranger’s home and eventually in his own ominous basement, as Felix becomes curious to discover whether his suitor is actually his father. (Spoiler: he obviously is not!)
Walking into this show, I was obviously expecting an exploration of toxic masculinity with a sprinkling of comedy throughout, but I did not expect to be so moved, especially in the closing moments of the show. As Felix begins to develop symptoms akin to depression, he has turned on the people in his life who actually cared about him and feels compelled to attend a slam poetry event. At this reading, he launches into a very emotionally powerful spoken-word piece about all his decisions and mistakes up to this point, actually apologising to all those he has hurt. The scene is perfectly portrayed as Felix goes into the performance with his prepared script but decides instead to speak from the heart. This is captured wonderfully by the actor, causing many audience members to become extremely close to tears. As this character was initially presented in the show as an incredibly unlikable and self-centred manosphere subscriber, the ability to still elicit a sense of empathy and sympathy from the audience (particularly in this closing sequence) is a true reflection of the talents on stage. What I particularly appreciated about this moment was the fact that Felix’s journey does not suddenly erase everything that came before it. Instead, the audience are able to see him begin to recognise the impact his behaviour has had on those around him and, more importantly, understand that acknowledging when you need help is not a weakness.
In conclusion, No Hard Felix is an unexpectedly moving story that explores the importance of asking for help and how sometimes you do need to lean on those around you. Despite being told entirely through the perspective of a caricature of toxic masculinity and manosphere-like ideas, this is a show full of hilarious moments, with this powerful message underpinning the entire production.Tith the rise of men’s mental health issues and the damaging idea that people simply need to ‘man up’, this is an important theatrical experience that can only benefit anyone in the audience, particularly young men who may be susceptible to these toxic ideas. Ultimately, No Hard Felix demonstrates that vulnerability does not make someone less of a man. Instead, having the courage to admit that you are struggling and reach out to those around you may be one of the strongest things you can do. I would rate this show 5 out of 5 stars!
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