Martin Dockery: Forbidden City!

Very disappointed with the show. Not a normal Dokerty play. Saddened to write such a review snce my wife and I are fan-boys of his.

Before this, I'd only seen Martin Dockery in scripted narrative based shows (like the Stakeout in 2025), but I figured I better finally cross a Dockery solo show off my Fringe bingo card this year.

I wasn't sure about his particular style/delivery at first, especially because it was so different from the role I'd seen him in last year, but he won me over pretty quickly. The threads of the show came together in a really satisfying way as it went on, and quite a few moments made me laugh out loud.

And, as a nice bonus, I now know exactly one more fact about the Forbidden City than I did before.

The performance I went to ran about 15 minutes long, so be aware of that if you have a busy Fringe schedule.

This was my first experience with Martin Dockery, and I loved where he went with it. I thought I was going to predict every twist and turn, but there was one toward the end that caught me completely off guard. Without the brilliant way he wrapped everything up, I still would have given this 4 stars. Even knowing exactly where the story was going, he has this magical way of pulling you along so that you can feel what he was feeling. And his delivery is just so damn entertaining!

How does a storyteller keep the audience engaged when the story is about nothing?

At the risk of sounding very basic, I see Martin Dockery every year along with all of the other elderly Fringe-goers. I thought I hated storytelling shows until I saw his work. He’s frenetic and electric. His stories whirl around and around in tangents and flashbacks that feel random in the moment but always end up connecting back unexpectedly. If you see him enough, you can tease out a lot of familiar ideas and themes in his work, and yet they never feel stale.

This show was, as another audience member put it after the show, pure agony. The repetition feels like you’re going nowhere. The story is about nothing. The play begins again and again and again. And yet, I could’ve watched another hour of this.

No one is doing it like him. I never know what to expect going into his storytelling shows, except that I will be equally shocked and delighted. I haven’t been disappointed yet.

While I appreciate what Martin was going for here and found this to be a fun and humorous story, it was a little too sputtering and disjointed at times. My biggest issue was the ham-fisted transition from his story about the Forbidden City to something else (no spoilers) that seemed largely unrelated. It left me feeling a bit dizzier than I’d have liked—not from laughing, but from subject whiplash.

Very funny show, in classic Martin Dockery form! Loved the use of the space, interaction with the audience, the stories, and the fact that there was no ending... the show is probably still going on somewhere!

always a fantastic show. The forbidden city takes you in a wild ride of new beginnings. His chaotic energy is always so palpable, and he keeps you wondering where he's going next while laughing so hard at his antics.

Not my kind of humour but I really like Martin! He is a really engaging performer. Throughout this show I just thought he was insane but he really loves his wife and daughter. It felt like watching an animal with zoochosis but in a fun way

Sorry Martin, I normally really enjoy your shows….but not this one. You are a great story teller, but this time it was like you were trying too hard. The bit about getting started over and over got a little old after the third time. And there were many tangents felt too much like “filler “. I kept looking at my watch to see how much longer. Sorry again, but not my favourite Dockery production.

No one really likes endings, do they? Well, why not watch a show with only introductions and just that? Martin Dockery: Forbidden City! takes the audience, sadly without actually taking us with him in the moving cinema that is going 600mph, on a completely ridiculous trip through his experience of the Forbidden City, all while being guided by an audio guide who just will not stop introducing itself.

The show is chaotic, weird, and actually really hilarious. With only an office desk in sight and a chair, Dockery's show might seem minimalistic, but it's definitely much more than that. I'm not one to go out and watch a one-man show, but this had me rolling in my seat. What I think makes this show work is how easily Dockery turns something that could have been a simple and forgettable story into something that keeps the audience really interested and makes it into an unforgettable experience for everyone. He has said during the show that he believes that teenagers are never really impressed by anything, but I found myself proving him wrong. His storytelling and comedic timing had the audience laughing throughout the show, and I was genuinely impressed by how consistently he could get the crowd to react to even the smallest jokes, like the one about cargo pants being outdated, which I totally agree with that they shouldn't be. There were plenty of moments that had the whole theatre laughing, especially with his completely top-tier T-shirt cannon that you must experience for yourself! It had me giggling in my seat.

You could almost feel Dockery's dread, fear and the look of defeat all at once whenever the audio guide came up, especially as he had to keep introducing the same idea of how it has a dial for volume and a map on the back over and over again. Somehow, each time he repeated it, it only made it funnier.

What starts off as a simple question of whether to buy the Chinese audio guide or not eventually becomes something much more personal. Without giving away where the story ends, the idea of "introductions" now takes on a whole new meaning for me, making "What a Wonderful World" feel like a fitting song to leave the audience pondering.

Totally would recommend!

Hilarious and absurd beyond belief and potentially the most chaotic and rancid vibes ever brought to Saskatoon's Cosmopolitan Seniors Centre. The feeling of absolute horror and dread while simultaneously laughing until out of breath is an experience unique to Martin Dockery. His stage persona immediately reads as "himself at 500%" from his endless reserve of intensity that sucks you into this manic nightmare. Recommending to friends and enemies alike.