Welcome to the end of the world! A large asteroid is speeding towards the Earth, and we all have only a matter of a couple of hours or so to live before the apocalypse. So what better way is there than to spend those final hours at your local, among friends, doing a pub quiz!
Box Of Tricks Theatre Company are well-known for performing interactive and immersive theatre in non-conventional theatre spaces; and so it came as no surprise that we were seated at a real working pub, in their tap room, complete with bar and the 'comforting smell of beer and piss', being put into quiz teams, being asked to think of a quiz team name, and then expected to compete and answer the 30 questions of this genuine pub quiz throughout the evening's entertainment.
Despite the sincerity and realism of the production, which, on both counts, were excellent; I have a couple of concerns about the style of the show and its length. I found that it took rather too long for the play to 'warm up' this evening, and we spent too much time in the company of Kathy and Rav before the dynamic changed with a third character entering. There were too many places where the power of the presentation dipped, either due to a natural pause in the proceedings such as waiting for us to answer the quiz questions or collecting the sheets at the end etc, or due to the dynamic change coming at a time when the audience was still busy chatting over the quiz questions etc. My personal feeling is that this production was just a little too long, and we spent too much time with the quiz, when in fact that should have been the company's secondary consideration. Had we have had a shorter quiz, and the play had been performed without interval, it would have been a much tighter, more realistic, and indeed more impactful production. (pun intended!)
The play starts with the wailing of an old air-raid siren, and we listen to a radio news item about the world's end. This, juxtaposed with fairy lights and gold glitter curtains for the quiz worked well, and Meriel Schofield, as our landlady, Kathy, was unflinchingly excellent throughout, as she deftly negotiated the relationship and sexuality of Rav, and the appearance of her wayward brother and the familial upheavel that unleashed. Nicely complementing Kathy in the pub is Rav, played with a touch of egoism and charm by Matthew Khan. Nicely underplaying his sexuality, one did feel genuinely involved and sympathetic towards both him and Fran's situation. Tilly Sutcliffe being Rav's schoolhood girlfriend, Fran; she came, knowing she was still very much in love with him and wanting to spend her last hours on Earth with him, only to find the reason they broke up was because he knew by going out with her, that he was gay. It was in her quieter moments of reflection, when she simply sat and reacted to what was happening around her that her characterisation was the most believable and strongest. The cast completed with Kathy's errant brother, Bobby, played by Chris Hoyle. Hoyle creating a totally believable and flawed brother with seeming accustomed ease. The denouement - although very predictable - still left a lump in my throat.
The production is a good one, and the acting is tangible and authentic; however there are moments where the tension dips, the pace is lost, and despite the stellar acting in such close confines, it takes too long to regain composure. With at least 30 minutes cut from this script (that sounds drastic I know!), it would be tighter, less obfuscated, and more intense.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 24.2.22
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