Monstrous Regiment

I admire the adventurous spirit shown by SNADS in the selection of their productions.  Not always the hackneyed, conventional show for them; more the unusual and less trodden path.  In the past, it worked very well with their performance of “Closer” in 2011, a play that earned itself a Best Drama award from NODA South West.  About the choice of “Monstrous Regiment” for their 2013 Spring Pay, I am not so sure.  Firstly, in pursuit of its objective to ridicule both the concept of war and the sexist attitudes of the military, it is very long, and somewhat laboured, in setting out its case – it was 10.30 pm before final curtain.  Secondly, its satirical humour tends to be rather oblique and not easy to project.  I suspect that it may require more in the way of stagecraft than most amateur companies can muster in order to fully exploit its potential.  Thirdly, to the unfamiliar play-goer, understanding and appreciation of the Terry Pratchett ‘fantasy world’ mind-set, as well as the references to his other works that have gone before, can be very difficult without some prior knowledge of what it is all about.  Therefore, any company contemplating the staging of this play would be well advised to consider providing an explanatory synopsis as an aid to the uninitiated.

All that having been said, the SNADS players gave it their best shot, to the amusement of an appreciative audience, albeit a little sparse on the night I went.  Using the full extent of the very wide stage at The Exchange gave them plenty of room for their military manoeuvres, although, as I think I have noted before, this arrangement seems to compromise acoustical clarity in the auditorium.  The play moved along quite nicely with the lion’s share of the dialogue falling to Polly Perks – our heroine masquerading as an infantryman, played by Jenny Hill – and Sergeant Jackram, macho and intimidating, although even he turns out to be woman, played by Toby Greenfield.  Both parts were played very well, and they were solidly supported by a convincingly motley crew of female troopers and mysterious fantasy creatures.  With the appearance of a miscellany of other, often strange, characters making up the large cast of nearly thirty players, the play wove its convoluted way to a seemingly inconclusive end.

To their credit, SNADS met the stiff challenges posed by this play head on, and on the whole acquitted themselves with much honour.  I applaud their spirit in giving it stage-space, while having to admit that it was not really my cup of tea, and I wish them well on similar adventures in the future.

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