| |
 |
| |
Wivenhoe News
Against all expectations the evening of Wednesday 6 August was balmy and mild enough for the audience to sit itself comfortably in St Mary’s Churchyard, which was once again the scene for the skilful summer antics of Mad Dogs & Englishmen Theatre Company. Their play Mad & Merry Monarchs, written by director Ann Courtney, was something of a departure from the open air Shakespeare with which they have entertained us in past seasons. It started most promisingly with a confusion of Plantagenet’s and platypuses (platypi?) and became gratifyingly more farcical and more whimsical from then on in, with its self-confessed “trawl through centuries of crusty old history”.
Just before the three actors – Paul Preston Mills, Mark Nash and Adam J Carpenter – set to enacting the Battle of Hastings, there was a Safety Announcement with advice to the audience on what to do in the event of being struck by a flying arrow. This was indeed “dangerous theatre bringing excitement to the masses”.
|
|
|
| |
Mad & Merry Monarchs (Ann Courtney) |
|
This show will discover the colourful and crazy episodes of history, throwing new light on whether Alfred really did burn the cakes or was he having a crafty smoke behind the bike sheds? And how did King John lose the crown jewels in the Wash? If you can’t name our rulers in the right order, or the difference between William the Conqueror and William Rufus but you don’t want a school history lesson, this show is for you; 1000 years of England’s history in 100 minutes of music, poetry, songs and silliness.
A brand new show by Ann Courtney, it is ideal for a family audience who are not afraid to join in on occasions! |
| |
|
Cast and Crew |
| |
Written and directed by Ann Courtney
Collaboration Dennis Gissing
Mark Nash
Adam J Carpenter
Paul Mills
Composer
Andy Taylor |
| |
|
King Henry I was subjected to a Mastermind interrogation; his special subject “Myself”. The kids – young and old – in the audience were loving it. With Henry II came T S Eliot’s Murder in the Cathedral, and how Canterbury Cathedral became the beautiful souvenir shop that we know and love today. The company got through the three King Edwards with the help of some potatoes; the Wars of the Roses were transferred to the cricket pitch; Mark Nash became Charles Laughton being Henry VIII; Charles II held a hysterically funny dialogue with Samuel Pepys. The Georges were “The Hanoverians – an everyday story of regal folk” and Queen Victoria was gloriously vulgar. The House of Windsor was dissected in the style of Noel Coward – very clever writing here – and we finished up with the Song of the Royal Corgis (and a belated entrance by Oliver Cromwell).
Mad Dogs are a highly professional and polished troupe. Mills, Nash and Carpenter are each of them excellent actors and Ann Courtney is to be congratulated on having written and directed a funny and complex play, full of good jokes and clever mimicry.
As the play ended, a summer thunderstorm ensued. It was the heavens rumbling their applause. Then as the clearing away and tidying up was halfway done, the rain came lashing down. The celestial applause of rolls of thunder went on, well into the early hours.
Review by Peter Kennedy |
|
