Anthony is not happy when he enters the theatre space and sees his ex, Penny, who will be directing ‘The Play With Speeches’ that he says he has written but she says he has collated from other writers’ work. Add to these two – with their own issues – a bunch of actors auditioning for a part in the play and you have yourself a play within a play, writes Michael Holland.
There was some early hilarious confusion when latecomers became jumbled up with the auditioning actors and I truly thought it was part of the performance; a couple walking right by me at the front to find themselves at a dead end before having to do a comic turn and make their way back was one of the funniest bits of the night. It was when another latecomer did exactly the same thing that I was convinced this was part of the play. Strangely, I was quite annoyed that it wasn’t.
The concept is that the theatre has been hired for the auditions but the theatre sold off tickets for an audience to watch the process. That is us. And the auditions will be a series of speeches gleaned from other productions that will tell the story of a man cheating on his wife with another man who has a heart attack while out jogging. So far so good.
As each actor has his audition the story progresses. On the sidelines, however, we watch Anthony and Penny’s constant bickering and Anthony using the audience to air his grievances about their time together before Penny threw a set of Le Creuset cast iron pans at him as he fled the home and the relationship.
The Play With Speeches, the one I came to see, not the one the actors are auditioning for, gives the opportunity for a large cast to show off their skills while giving the impression to the world that actors actually are a pompous, pretentious, hissy-fitting bunch of people.
James Woolf, the author, has his cast of twelve portraying every aspect – true or not – of what we think actors are like. There are those who lack confidence, those who have it in abundance, the snooty and the servile. Some want to know if they will get paid or get a share of the profit; those who require a facial warm-up before starting and those who need some back-story to a character who has little to say or do.
And then there is Lionel, auditioning for the role of hospital cleaner, who wonders if he could be considered for other, more meatier, roles. In fact, he would quite like Anthony’s part and would like to audition for it. Penny loves the idea, much to Anthony’s chagrin.
Anthony now has to audition to be himself! This twist not only takes us out of the play within a play concept but smashes down the fourth wall and drags us into some kind of absurd alternative world where this could happen.
The stand-out turn is Matthew Parker camping it up as Anthony, whose histrionic hand and arm gestures turn out to be his undoing when he has to replicate them in his audition.
The Play With Speeches is a great idea but I don’t think it reached its full potential. Yes, it made us laugh and sent us home smiling, and I’m grateful for that, but more could have been done in the second half to give this an ending worthy of how the play had set itself up.
Brockley Jack Studio, 410 Brockley Road, SE4 2DH until 22nd October. Times: Tuesday – Saturday 7.30pm. Admission: £16, £14.
Booking: 0333 666 3366 – www.brockleyjack.co.uk
