by Anne-Louise Fortune
What mental image comes to mind when you hear the name ‘Steve Jobs’? If it’s of a man wearing a black polo neck jumper whilst talking on a stage as he presents his next Apple product, then this show will immediately provide a dose of healthy familiarity. Apple of My Eye is a one-person musical that tells the life story of computer entrepreneur Steve Jobs. This is a 60-minute piece of theatre that, as well as providing the expected biographical details, also attempts to unravel Jobs psychologically.
We begin with Jobs informing us that he knows the end of his life is near. He is aware of the tumour that will eventually lead to his death. He has decided, therefore, to run us through the highlights of his life as he sees them. We wind back in time to his birth and roll forward from there.
Creating a one-person show is always a brave move. Making that show a musical is even braver, especially in the pressured environment of the Edinburgh Fringe. In that context, this is well done. The music, presumably pre-recorded, supports the singing without overpowering it. On a day when there were microphone issues throughout the performance, this meant that nothing was lost. The mark of a good musical is how memorable the songs are. “Abandoned, or Chosen”, the opening number, whose musical themes run throughout the show, is memorable, although many of the other songs are not.
The cleverest thing about this show is how technology has been incorporated, almost becoming an additional character. Four Apple Mac Computers are used to show key dates in Jobs’ life, as well as relevant images, often linked to the theme of the current song. We can only imagine that the journey to create the technology was a long and tedious one, but the effect is mesmerising.
What we liked about this show was that it was not just a list of biographical details, one after another. There was a good attempt to try to examine Jobs’ character – to understand what made him tick, what motivated him, and why, particularly in his personal life, he repeated the generational trauma of abandoning his child.
Stephen Smith plays Jobs as the sort of man you could imagine yourself going for a pint with – he just seems to be an ordinary person whose very particular interests led him to create computers that looked as beautiful inside as out – that were not just a machine, but a product. It’s a compelling and engaging performance that manages to create empathy for a man who, from some accounts, was often difficult to deal with.
It’s unclear whether this is a ‘finished’ production or if the company responsible has plans to develop the show further. We can see this musical expanding to include additional characters and moments if this was a direction the producers wished to explore. Equally, however, the production as it is stands strong as a solid exploration of a complex man and his story.
Apple of My Eye continues at the Edinburgh Fringe until August 19th.
