A fantastic debut, brilliantly performed

Taking the form of a non-fiction work, THE TEACHER is an imagined “day in the life” report by journalist Joy Attwood (brought to brilliant first-person life by comedian Sooz Kempner) of her experiences shadowing a secondary school teacher and seeing what it's like to step into the shoes of her subject to teach a class herself.

Approaching her work in the manner of a documentary filmmaker, Joy is as interested in providing an outsider’s commentary and telling us about how she feels about what she’s encountering as much as getting under the skin of her subject and the profession of school teacher.

Although this is his first foray into fiction of this kind, author Andrew Mackay has experience as a teacher and clearly drew upon real life situations encountered in the profession while also taking an opportunity to vent about realities of a mostly thankless job and the awful formalities that choke the passion for education out of even the most dedicated teaching staff. He shows tremendous skill in his ability craft a fast-paced, insightful (dare I say educational) story and has a particular flare for dialogue.

A light-hearted romp for the most part, it’s not for the faint of heart. Those familiar with the author from his podcasting (his latest show is called THE SMOKING LAMB) will be well aware of Mackay’s penchant for vulgarity and the grotesque and he cannot resist the urge to shock his readers. At times he even takes his reader on very uncomfortable detours. But it's all done with incredible wit and humanity.

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