(The Absurdity and Failure of) Life after Shakespeare

(The Absurdity and Failure of) Life after Shakespeare brought together two starkly differing short plays. Michael Green’s ‘Henry the Tenth (Part Seven)’ provided a view of Shakespeare, as delivered through ‘Coarse Acting’, that was both unexpected and funny to watch. Effectively, everything that could go wrong during a performance did indeed do so!  Mike Bartlett’s ‘Bull’ made for uncomfortable viewing and offered a ferocious portrayal of workplace politics, harassment and bullying.

Henry the Tenth (Part Seven) – written by Michael Green

Nothing quite lends itself to being done badly as a Shakespeare play! 

‘The Art of Coarse Acting’, also written by Michael Green, forms the basis for this seldom performed play in which everything that can go wrong does so.  Put simply, as everything falls apart around them, the cast gamely carries on to the bitter end.  This is a challenging production to ‘get right’ since it takes considerable skill to make the disastrous look real whilst keeping genuine talent carefully hidden under the veneer of incompetence. Trying to deliberately get something wrong is often more challenging than trying to do something right. What’s even more impressive is to get something wrong but to make it look natural.  In other words to be dreadful in their characters but deliver an excellent performance in doing so…

Timing is a most critical element – from the PA system being continuously late to dead bodies and props being either wrongly moved and missing entirely.  Overall, the play was a total shambles and that’s exactly what was intended.  I felt the cast did an excellent job in delivering a believable fiasco!

Bull – by Mike Bartlett

First staged in 2013, at the Sheffield Crucible Studio, ‘Bull’ focuses on three young members of a sales team.  Summonsed to a meeting with their boss, Carter, they face the awkward subject of downsizing and which one will lose their job as a result.  This is a masterclass in how collusion works and is an uncomfortable view of self-interest and office bullying.

The small, but highly talented, cast delivered a memorable performance that was not only thoroughly convincing but exceptionally realistic. With minimal set, props and ‘action’, there really wasn’t anywhere to hide. The sheer savagery in Mike Bartlett’s writing was delivered with a brutality that left no room for misunderstanding.  Each character was quickly developed, the pace was exceptional, the cast was ‘word perfect’, the timing ‘spot on’ and everything just looked and felt realistic. This was a first-class performance from a highly talented and exceptionally strong quartet of actors.   

Congratulations to Carlton Theatre Group and all those involved with the production of (The Absurdity and Failure of) Life after Shakespeare. Thank you for the hospitality received and I hope November’s production of ‘Twelfth Night’ is another success.

 

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