Playing at Motley Wherehaus until October 17. More information and tickets via melbournefringe.com.au/the-manager-is-me
Written and performed by Dayna Fallon, The Manager is Me is a biting, incredibly incisive and brutally honest one-woman show, which takes a razor-sharp look at family life in 2026.
Depicting the challenges it brings, the joys it provides and the tears it inevitably causes, Fallon gives us a warts and all look at one everyday mum’s typical morning as she cares for an ailing husband suffering from epilepsy while trying to get her kids ready for school in time for the morning bell.
I don’t know how much of The Manager is Me is autobiographical, but it feels 100% credible and realistic as Fallon expertly depicts a chaotic morning, where a succession of small mishaps spiral into something much larger, and she is the only one who can hold everything together.
While the show starts off quite funny, around the halfway mark it becomes something more serious and contemplative, and while the first half was solid, the second half is where the show really shines.
A surprisingly gripping and slightly harrowing vignette in which Fallon relates the story of giving birth is easily the highlight of the show, painting a vivid picture of the experience for the audience.
The show is educational as well, informing us that an Aussie mum completes on average 48 tasks before 9am each day, and there are a couple of inspired moments where Fallon sort of breaks into song.
One involves her listing off her morning tasks in a cool kind of staccato fashion and the other a fantastic rhyming monologue which helps convey the mountain of stress she is under. Learning that Fallon has won awards for slam poetry is no shock given how well she performs in these moments.
There’s a nice use of repeated water imagery and an inventive use of a bubble machine to keep the show visually interesting throughout. Fallon is a gifted voice actor, assuming the roles of several other characters as she encounters a gaggle of others during her tumultuous morning.
While I might not be the target audience for the show, I feel like anyone can relate to the idea of dealing with the dramas and chaos family life can bring, and trying to keep things together when life piles challenge upon challenge upon you.
The end result is a sweet, intentionally frenzied look at one mum’s struggle to get to 9am without everything falling apart, and is a wonderful showcase for Fallon’s talents.
3.5/5 STARS
