Paul Tosh presents ◆ A Premium Solo Show ◆ tosh42.com
Paper
Gun
This is mine, but you can have it.
A man. A piano. A reckoning.
EMOTIONALLY ENGAGING · THEATRICAL · INDEPENDENCE
Paper Gun is an original song cycle — An operetta in three acts of twenty minutes each. A paper theme tied to the shadow and philosophical parallels about sacrifice, in which one man plays both sides of himself. Ending in independence and warmth, taking no prisoners on the way.
What this work does in the rooms it reaches: for the elderly, for the isolated, for people carrying weight they can't name until a song names it for them — is real. I've been in an impoverished enough state myself to know what I'm giving back.
The Programme
Twenty-Seven Songs. One Reckoning.
There are two people in every difficult relationship. In my experience — they're often the same person. Say something true to someone you love and if the painter takes themselves out of the painting, you are left in something beautiful, but still holding both sides of whether you did the right thing. Tonight you're going to get a sense of independence, and what that means for better for worse, and ultimately for better. A vicarious exercise through your French brother "I'm alright, Jack" — your shadow work — whoever that is for you, because it's in you / not outside of you.
The protagonist contains extremes. "I know in this song the bully is me, but the bully is feeling free." He's not the innocent party observing. He's someone who recognises the negative pull in himself, fights it, and emerges. That's the whole arc. This work operates on multiple registers simultaneously — emotional, theatrical, philosophical — and different audiences will unlock different layers.
It will touch you like lightning and leave you with gold.
Click a song, see a line.
1.Beautiful Sunshine / You Make Me Rock N RollThe opening›
"Your life is amazing — you still have some left."
2.The VisitorThe shadow arrives›
"Your voice has got that colour, the sound of 'I don't care.'"
3.From a Watcher's Point of ViewThe narcissist observed›
"He agrees with everything you do. But you've got to admire him for being so shrewd."
4.BarristerDon't mistake talent for character›
"Love is not bought nor sold — it is first given away, then earned."
5.Who Knows Just WhyThe protagonist questions himself›
"Who knows just why we turned around and hide when reminded of love?"
6.Paper GunThe weapon named›
"I've justified most every lie. Morality can feign."
7.Don't Say AnythingThe silence and isolation›
"I was so generous on stage, but in private I couldn't give anything away."
8.Fear HateThe universal warning›
"One of life's hardest things is not to allow fear to turn to hate."
9.PressuresThe weight of it›
"Value is not defined by vocation, by season, but sometimes a kiss."
10.Bully the BullyFighting back›
"I know in this song the bully is me, but the bully is feeling free."
11.ForgivingThe impossible ask›
"A bit faster than mountains, but slower than clouds. Contradiction's the terms — it's all that's allowed."
12.LemonSourness, deflection, raw confrontation›
"When I'm raw from something I saw — to keep me alive I kill it inside."
13.The Space BetweenThe prayer in the eye of the storm›
"The space above is filled with love, but the space between is what gets you there."
14.Trauma ResponseThe most raw and honest piece in the collection›
"When we both are gone, please G-d we'll get along."
15.A Little AmnestyThe plea›
"Whatever the scheme, in the lines or in between — try to broker a little amnesty."
16.Broken ManThe raw plea›
"Don't test me or arrest me, but don't second guess me — bless me."
17.Paper CrownThe turning point›
"If you had faith you'd feel secure, you wouldn't need control, then you could be vulnerable, then authentic, then intimate."
18.the paintingsoliloquy›
"Left alone in what looks like this Turner Venetian oil painting"
19.An ArtistWe sang alone›
"so we sang together we sang together we sang alone."
20.This Is MineReclamation›
"This is mine, but you can have it — 'cause it's all I've got to give."
21.You and Your OwnUnderstanding the pattern›
"We always hurt the ones we love — it's not just you, everyone."
22.From a Living GraveThe descent and the return›
"Love is a gamble at first sighting."
23.Painful BotherFarewell to the dynamic›
"As much as you are inseparable from your nose and thumb."
24.By HertzFaith applied›
"For if the road you have chosen is just — one also travels in trust."
25.FaithThe resolution›
"If you've seen the good, you'll see the best."
26.Let Me CryThe release›
"With our tears we'd find a way — we'd recognise what we want to say."
27.Truthful LoveThe arrival›
"Are you in the mood to sacrifice truth for love?"
28.Paper Heart (Your Tikkun)I believe in your pain, I believe in you›
"I believe in your pain, I believe in you."
29.Beautiful Sunshine (Reprise)The return — earned, not given›
"You make me rock n roll."
