Masterful Home Truths Rob Carlton’s one man tour de force, Willing Participant is an hour of storytelling power that reels you in from the first moment via his disarming charm and skilful acting chops.

His yarn telling ability is grounded in tall tales and true from his own life. He shares four during this performance which can be summarised with the words – cousins, continuity, crematorium and children’s choir. Each story takes you to places precious to Rob where you meet a cast of characters that range in age from 7 to 70+. Rob introduces us to his friends, colleagues and family – both close (perhaps a little too close for some) and distant. He describes places he’s lived and people he’s met with a visual clarity that makes them instantly familiar and nostalgic.

The performance is masterfully directed by Darren Gilshenan. With only a black chair as his stage companion, Rob takes us from Canberra Christmases to Melbourne indie film sets to the Northern Beaches of Sydney on a bike. In between stories, Rob is disarming with his take on life. He shares his thoughts “let’s cut twenty somethings a break, they’re dealing with a lot” (delivered with not a whiff of sarcasm) to defending the rights of middle-aged men in lycra. He’s clearly having a good time and his warmth and enthusiasm for his stories is infectious.

It’s clear that Rob has the belief that true stories have power and sharing them brings people closer and, as he says, that’s not a bad thing with how the world is right now. It would spoil the fun to breakdown the script. However, it’s a great piece of writing that is delivered with glee by Carlton.

It was a wonderful night of stories with humour and heart told by someone who really does know how to spin a memorable yarn. Pull up a chair and let Rob tell you a tale.