Tom Scott's memoir, The Daylight Atheist, is loosely based on his own father; it is a bleakly honest portrayal of an embittered life, poisoned by alcohol.
Danny Moffatt has alienated himself from his family to live with his torments, shut away in his bedroom, interrupted only by meals dutifully prepared and served on a tray, and frequent, extended visits to the pub.
In a critical scene, the dishevelled old man, terrifyingly alone, grieves for his only friend Jack, his Maori drinking mate. Jack was the only human being Moffatt liked or trusted and into whom he had channelled his affection, while his neglected family carried on their lives around him.
I'm moved by the pathos and I want to understand how someone so full of intelligence and potential can have brought himself to such a conclusion. And yet, it is a natural consequence: he's a horrible man.
Waipukurau actor John Foster is Moffatt and in this subtly nuanced performance as he reveals the caustically funny, verbally violent and self-tortured character through a two-hour monologue.
