Review: 'The Comedians'

By Alex Gordon,

Before and before reading my review have a listen to URY's exclusive preview of the production.

The Comedians marks the second piece of student writing performed this term in The Drama Barn. Written and directed by Elliot Kinnear, it also marks his second full-length play to be staged at university, the first being the psychological thriller Defenestrated in 2011; a fine achievement for a third-year student.

The play takes its name from the centuries-old Italian art form of ‘Comedia dell’arte,’ a style of theatre that involves using masked ‘stock’ characters combined with clowning and improvisation to tell a story.

DramaSoc’s description of it as a Comedia dell’arte piece is somewhat of a misrepresentation as it is not, strictly speaking, a piece that adheres to the art form. Rather it takes some of the ideas and characters from it to tell a new story of the author’s design. A story that, it must be said, is inventive, original and tragic.

The old man Pantalone, in order to save his new-born daughter’s life, strikes a deal with the Loki-like spirit, Sandrone. He must give Sandrone something in return – though we know not what – when he asks for it. This is essentially the driving force of the plot as we are introduced to a host of characters that become enmeshed in Sandrone’s schemes.

For a student piece, it is better written than most. Kinnear’s use of language for his characters is articulate, complex and well honed. The story structure, though slightly predictable in its nature, has enough twists and turns in the different lives of the characters to keep us involved until the final tragic revelation at the end of Act 2 - a moment worth waiting for

The play also exhibits ambitious stage-craft; stylistic masks and costumes, an ornately decorated set, full use of the Barn space, well-choreographed duels and arresting use of lighting all combine to provide a visual spectacle for the audience.

Balance however, is always difficult for a student writer to achieve satisfactorily. Just as I felt Paradise was too short in its duration, I thought The Comedians was too long for its finale to have the dramatic impact it deserved. Act 2 could have been much shorter altogether, and many of the characters had the habit of giving long-winded, repetitive explanations of the sum of events so far that caused any previously gathered momentum to grind to a halt.

The acting style of traditional Comedia dell’arte is heightened, bold, and exaggerated. Some actors threw themselves into it with real commitment, such as Peter Marshall as the malevolent Sandrone. Though some lines were lost through his mask, he exploited his vocal and physical capabilities to the full to create a truly frightening character. Peter Fisher as the honest Pierrot also gave what I thought was the most truthful and understated performance of the evening.

Though these two very different styles – one heightened, one naturalistic – suited the characters in question, I could not help but feel that many of the rest of the actors where not quite sure which they were going for, leaving them with an uneasy compromise between the two. It is the director’s job to redress this balance, and it felt as if it had not been dealt with sufficiently.

I would also liked to have seen more of what is implicit in the play’s title – comedy. The play had relatively few gags in the script, leaving it up to the actors to embellish it with their own inventions to varying success. Moments of tragedy can be all the more poignant when contrasted with moments of comedy.

Writers also need to bear in mind how much their audiences are prepared to sit-through before their attention begins to wane and it should be DramaSoc’s responsibility to ensure any student-written material that they produce is re-examined in cooperation with the writer to ensure that it has the potential to be as successful as it can be.

Though flawed, this is a play that shows potential both in itself and on the part of its writer. The strength of individual performances was perhaps variable among its cast, however, they worked well as a cohesive unit, just as a Comedia dell’arte troupe would, to bring it to life.

Hear Alex's full audio review tommorow at 2 in YorWorld!