Educating Ronnie

A gap year trip to Uganda to visit his aunt was to prove life changing for 18-year-old Joe Douglas, but not in the usual way. Yes the clichés apply: it was eye-opening, it was a culture shock, it left him with western liberal guilt. But it was meeting Ugandan teenager Ronnie that made a lasting impact.

Back home in Stockport Douglas receives a text message from Ronnie asking for £20 a month to help him complete his O Levels. He agrees – and soon this turns into supporting Ronnie through A Levels, then £300 a term for university fees, then the odd payment for food, for hospital fees and, years later, even a bribe to police.

The thousands he has gifted Ronnie over a decade have, inevitably, prompted much soul-searching in Douglas. This he now turns into a monologue, which he performs, laying out the questions he has asked himself over the years: should he have done it? Was it a scam? Should he have ignored the “residual guilt” his aunt warned of?

It’s an interesting story and Douglas draws it simply but effectively. He tells us he’s no actor—he’s a director by trade—and at times that shows, particularly when he momentarily plays Ronnie. But the truthfulness of the story balances out this callowness. When Ronnie’s actual words—taken from text messages and emails sent over the years—are spoken by an unseen actor and projected onto a screen, it brings this reality home and makes you wonder, what would you have done?