Camino Man (The Vault at Paradise in the Vault 2) is “a show about discovering your smile, finding love, saying sorry, and finding peace all while walking almost 1000km across an entire country!” according to its one-man presenter, Steve Wilson. Steve, beset by many personal and legal problems and encouraged by his brothers, took time out and walked one of the many ‘Camino’ pilgrim routes in Spain.
The show features Steve on a bare black stage, dressed as he was for his walk—including a backpack—and using slides to illustrate the places and people he encountered along the way.
If Steve has found peace, it’s hard to tell. His show is mainly a frenetic list of people and places, and his innate ability to get lost at every turn and regularly miss his accommodation. It’s also about the kindness of strangers. But the people he portrays—real individuals whom he befriended, and some of whom he admits might not be thrilled to see him again—are presented in a way that feels exaggerated, as is Steve himself, who refers to himself as “the crazy Australian.” While this may be intended humorously, it risks reducing complex individuals to caricatures. I found myself losing interest and any real empathy for Steve quite quickly. He hopes we might be able to ‘find ourselves’ through his show—I really only wanted to find the door.
Camino Man could be a great show. It’s a true story of a man who hadn’t been able to fully understand or take responsibility for his own actions, attributing his troubles to his smile rather than reflecting on the deeper causes of the allegations and job loss he experienced. Re-finding that smile on the Camino is meant to be uplifting, but I found the show lacking in introspection and clarity about his past, which made it difficult to connect with his journey. I’m glad Steve feels he’s found peace, but I found his telling of the story unsettling. That aside, his ‘madcap’ style grated. I’d expected a calm, serene telling of a tale of enlightenment.
Camino Man goes at 100 miles an hour, and to give Steve his due, covering more than 50km on several days of his walk might be enough to speed anyone up. Hats off to you, Steve, for your achievement. I just wish you’d learned to slow down a bit and embody in your show the inner peace you say you’ve found.
