★★★★★

“a delightful evening, skilfully performed by a great ensemble, proof positive of the magic of theatre”

The moon was full and the air icy as we made our way back to the car tonight. Thick mist was rising towards us and angry water swirled beneath our feet as we crossed the river. Few theatre trips are quite as atmospheric as a walk to the Thames-side Isis Farmhouse in Oxford, one of several pubs in Oxfordshire, Hertfordshire and London chosen by Creation Theatre company for their bold and engaging new play, ‘Boatman Town’.

Creation are Oxfordshire’s largest producing theatre company, specialising in adapting classic texts in unusual locations. They employ a cast of full-time actors.

Award-winning poet, playwright and librettist Glyn Maxwell wrote this contemporary story as a response to the medieval play ‘The Summoning of Everyman’. In the late 15th century original, Death summons Everyman, who stands for all of us humans, to give an account of his life as he must face final judgement in Heaven. Everyman asks for companions on their journey, but who amongst their friends will choose to go with them?

This religiously inspired morality play has been inventively transformed by both Glyn Maxwell and the company into a pacey tale of a group of boozy holidaymakers stuck in an English-themed bar on a mysterious foreign island. Tonight it was performed in the centre of one of the pub’s function rooms by a strong cast of seven, with us audience members very much part of the story. Director Helen Eastman and seven fine performers ensure that even in this unusual space – without stage lights or sets – our attention is always held.

Anna Tolputt as Yvonn opens the evening with a beautifully written and rendered monologue which immediately sets up the proposition for a show which runs for just over an hour. It might not have been immediately apparent to all watching, but she is the central character of the medieval original: Everyman, or Anyone as the playwright describes her.

Highly experienced movement director Sam Rayner has a pivotal role as the mysterious waiter who gives orders as much as he takes them. Ailsa Joy gives a spirited performance as Amelia. Alongside Herb Cuanolo as the big man Denny she discovers that something about the English Pub is not quite what it seems. Miranda Foster is the older woman Elaine and Nicholas Osmond the money-minded and enigmatic businessman Nick.

Every one of the pub’s customers – both the characters and their audience – will be tested in this captivating show which demands our active engagement. It was a delightful evening, skilfully performed by a great ensemble, proof positive of the magic of theatre.

EXHIBITIONISTS at the King’s Head Theatre

★★

“For the most part, the play paddles in the shallow waters of caricature and stereotype”

The King’s Head was the UK’s oldest pub theatre when it closed its doors last August. Less than six months later – though years in the planning – the doors reopen to the new purpose-built space. The site is steeped in theatrical history, and many of us stepping through the doors on opening night for the inaugural production carry fond memories or have personal connections with the old space. The spirit of many great names in British theatre still lingers, some of them now ghosts. Watching perhaps. We can only speculate as the evidence is whitewashed over, and little remains, despite directly connecting to the old dressing room. None of the atmosphere has crossed the threshold. No memorabilia. No link to its colourful history. No echoes from the past. Nevertheless, as we descend the stairwells down to the subterranean black box, the anticipation is palpable.

“Exhibitionists” is an apt play to open the first season. In line with the LGBTQ+ leanings the venue has adopted over the years, it also harks back to a romantic golden age of twentieth century theatre. In their programme notes, writers Shaun McKenna and Andrew Van Sickle, reference Terence Rattigan and Alan Ayckbourn, while also drawing parallels with the screwball wit of Hollywood’s Charles Lederer. Bizarrely no mention is made of Noël Coward, even though the plot of “Exhibitionists” is lifted, lock, stock, and barrel from Coward’s thirties comedy of manners, ‘Private Lives’. Almost. Except it lacks the manners, or Coward’s mastery of the language. The subversiveness of Coward’s sexual identity was reflected in his plays – particularly ‘Private Lives’ – but as well as being a closet gay play, it is a classic that maintains universal appeal. “Exhibitionists” is overt, brash and blatant, but its focus is much too narrow.

Set in the San Francisco art world, Conor (Ashley D Gayle) and Robbie (Robert Rees) are living separate lives having split from their volatile, open relationship years previously. They both now have new, younger partners. Conor is with upcoming film-maker Mal (Jake Mitchell-Jones) while Robbie has hooked up with the heteroflexible Rayyan (Rolando Montecalvo). The two couples stumble upon one another at an art exhibition. The exes reunite, reignite and relocate swiftly to a nearby motel run by the implausibly eager Sebastian (Øystein Lode) with the new partners in hot pursuit. Squabbles and sex alternate as the farce unravels.

“The performers do well to counteract the faithless writing but cannot escape the cartoon landscape in which they are trapped”

The premise is predictable and, for all its profanity, not at all subversive. For the most part, the play paddles in the shallow waters of caricature and stereotype. Which is surprising, but also unsettling in that it seems to be unwittingly marginalising the culture it represents. There is little sense of celebration. The in-jokes jar, as though written by an outsider looking in, which renders the piece exclusive, eradicating its wider appeal in one foul swoop. Meanwhile, promiscuity and predatory behaviour are promoted in a way that, if presented in any other environment, would be condemned.

The performers do well to counteract the faithless writing but cannot escape the cartoon landscape in which they are trapped. Bronagh Lagan’s direction moves the action snappily, encumbered however by superfluous entrances and exits (which become as repetitive as the dialogue); and more so by the poor sightlines created by the venue’s raked seating.

“Exhibitionists” is a rather unsubtle revival of a delicately intelligent original. A poor man’s Coward. For half a century the King’s Head has paved the way for pub theatre. The previously shabby auditorium has attracted top writers, directors and actors throughout its eclectic and eccentric history. The atmosphere hasn’t crossed over to the new venue, and the opening show is not one to draw it in. The ghosts will want a new space to haunt. Let us hope the audiences don’t follow them because, with time on its side, the King’s Head will recapture its soul, and our hearts.

Tag Archives: Geraint Lewis

BOATMAN TOWN

★★★★★

Touring pubs in Oxfordshire and London

BOATMAN TOWN at Isis Farmhouse

★★★★★

“a delightful evening, skilfully performed by a great ensemble, proof positive of the magic of theatre”

BOATMAN TOWN at Isis Farmhouse

Reviewed on 24th February 2024

by David Woodward

Photography by Geraint Lewis

Boatman Town is touring pubs in Oxfordshire and London – click here for full details

Other Creation Theatre shows:

THE ALCHEMIST | ★★★★ | Mathematical Institute | October 2023

ROMEO AND JULIET | ★★★½ | Online | May 2021

BOATMAN TOWN

BOATMAN TOWN

Click here to see our Recommended Shows page

EXHIBITIONISTS

★★

King’s Head Theatre

EXHIBITIONISTS at the King’s Head Theatre

★★

“For the most part, the play paddles in the shallow waters of caricature and stereotype”

“The performers do well to counteract the faithless writing but cannot escape the cartoon landscape in which they are trapped”