Mister Holgado (Oberon Plays for Young People)

When little Conrad Van der Bosch claims he has an invisible tiger called Sigmund hiding on his wardrobe, his child-psychologist father sees the ‘lie’ as a deliberate act of juvenile defiance. Doctor Van der Bosch is concerned that the boy is mentally maladjusted and in an attempt to terrify Conrad into admitting that there never was an invisible tiger, creates the terrifying figure of Mister Holgado, a child-eating monster who is apparently hiding inside Conrad’s wardrobe, waiting to consume the little boy. This triggers a battle for supremacy, as Conrad and his father struggle to manipulate the myth of Holgado. In desperation, as the Doctor fails to curtail his son’s imagination, he realises he has no choice but to become the child-eating Holgado.