4 STARS
“Goodness or cowardice?”
This 21st century take on what you might call a ‘comitragedy’ is flavoured with exactly that: humour and sadness in equal measure. This morality play covers some dark themes, and with some atmospherically gloomy Radiohead interspersed throughout, the play encourages us to question the unforgivable behaviour we see before us.
Directed by Ben Williamson, the play presents the life of Gorge Mastromas, who starts off life as an ordinary boy. Yet through a series of strange events, he is handed a powerful position as a man invited to join a ‘secret society’ of very rich, very powerful people. Soon, he learns how easy it is to lie his way through life, and this generates nasty consequences.
The presence of a chorus, acting in different roles as well as providing commentary of Mastromas’ life, brought the play to life and added some comedy to the play. They continued to comment on the darker elements of the play with intrusive questioning to the audience, which was altogether chilling and very effective. They played with space well, seamlessly assumed different roles, and engaged with the audience as well as each other, leading to uproarious laughter.
The set was an interesting one, featuring some glow-in-the-dark graffiti, a teetering set of shelves and a chair made out of bicycle parts that lit up and emitted smoke. Very weird, but kind of fitting.
The acting was pretty spotless throughout. Each actor’s role was very well defined and executed. However, we generally preferred the scenes in which all the actors were engaged; when left without the chorus’ observations, the play sometimes fell a little flat.
One other niggling complaint is that the play is too long. Whilst the longevity was obviously intended to create tension, the audience instead got slightly bored.
Nevertheless, when it’s good, it’s really good. The very start and the very end of the play will leave the cogs turning in your head. We watch the lies unfold with horror and disgust, laugh at the dark comedy, and ultimately decide whether it’s courage or cowardice that motivates the ill-fated Gorge Mastromas.
Buy your tickets here.
Image source:
http://newtheatre.org.uk/whats-on/
Edited by Harriet Dunlea