They Don't Pay? We Won't Pay

This excellent production of an adaptation of Dario Fo’s classic from 1974 was a real treat. Combining both anti-capitalist feeling and a severe poke in the eye to Marxist theory, this farce has plenty to say and provides a thoughtfully amusing evening’s entertainment. This production was tailor made for the talents of BDC and was an excellent choice, beautifully delivered. 

We opened with a reminder of the high standards of BDC set building with the stage filled nicely with Jack and Anthea’s homestead, beautifully appointed as always: great work from the technical and staging team. Lighting and sound were top notch too, courtesy of the Empire team; great work there too boys.

This is an unashamedly political play, scoring points couched in the stage language of farce. The sheer theatricality of the enterprise is exhilarating and the talented cast put everything into embracing this aesthetic, lifting the production into a wonderful evening’s entertainment. Director Joanne Shepherd sought permission to tinker ever so slightly with the script from the writer, Deborah McAndrew, and the whole affair brought the themes and ideas in the play bang up to date: cost of living crisis; Brexit; food prices; inflation… all of human life was there. The whole of the auditorium was used with skill to facilitate knockabout entrances and exits and the play flowed seamlessly from scene to scene, ramping up the fourth wall breaking farcical theatricality.

This will be a rare instance of my not doing a checklist in my show report - giving a quick thumbnail of each player - as this was such a well-connected team effort, it would be invidious to adopt a tediously ‘tick box’ mentality. This was a stellar lineup, everyone at the top of their game: perfectly cast and obviously inspired to create something special. 

Claire St Pierre (Anthea) and Neely Jillings (Maggie) burst on to the stage in the wake of a supermarket looting to set things in motion; the confused workers in the shape of hapless husbands Jack (Paul McGowan) and Lewis (Stephen Claxon) weren’t far behind; Steven Derbyshire played EVERYONE else in a series of fantastic, and frantic, costume (and character) swapping appearances. This quintet of brilliance guided the audience through what was a masterclass of ‘how this sort of thing should be done’. The absurdist, farcical fantasy made its political points sharply - and evenly - and everyone involved in this production should be praised: it’s increasingly rare to see something worth doing done so very well on the amateur stage. Everyone at BDC, take a bow.

A couple of moans… aspects of the script didn’t quite fit with the updated local setting and could have been tinkered with a bit more for me: the pregnancy/ Catholicism/ Pope thread in the play anchored the piece in its original Italian setting. That’s hardly the fault of this production however. I didn’t care for the musical finalé very much either (it all got a bit preachy and simplistic compared with the sharp wit of what had come before) but that’s probably because my personal politics lie somewhere to the right of Norman Tebbit… That being the case, I’ll paraphrase dear old Norm and ‘get on my bike’!

Despite a couple of minor gripes, I really have nothing but praise to lavish upon all of the cast, crew and everyone involved for what was a superb interpretation of a wonderful piece of comedy/ drama. My thanks to all of you for bringing so much joy, happiness and brilliance to the stage. Intelligent, reasoned, politically challenging and yet, theatrically complex (and at the same time, naturally and distinctively amusing), this was a really energetic and thoughtful production which will linger long in the memory. 

 

 

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.