Tim Coakley’s fast, funny and entertaining play’s about writing plays and telling stories.
Sussex Playwrights Reviews
Brighton Fringe 2018
What’s Wrong With Monotony?
By Tim Coakley
Directed by Margot Jobbins
Rialto Theatre 5.15 May 4, 5, 6
The tortured Writer’s finally asleep. Is he dreaming the Actor, Actress and Director – or are they really there?
Tim Coakley’s fast, funny and entertaining play’s about writing plays and telling stories. A bet plus instant social media exposure and a surprising flurry of music hall songs makes this short snappy Fringe show very now – and very Victorian, reminding us that we’ve been doing this sort of thing for centuries.
A tight cast of four features Owen Bleach as manic frazzled Writer and loving sincere husband, Gordon Foggo as supercilious Actor and hissable Victorian music hall villain, Emma Howarth as feisty political Actress and saccharine heroine, and Sharon Drain as brusque Director and a cocky drag king Burlington Bertie. Together they throw energy and charm at a packed 2018 Brighton Fringe audience, who found ourselves singing along to songs we didn’t realise we kind of knew – maybe it’s time for a music hall revival?
And on a playmaking note – that inflatable sofa’s a stroke of genius.
A thought for next time: why not print the words on the back of the programme – there’s space!
The Rialto theatre is accessed only via stairs.
Photo: Thomas Everchild