Misfortunes of the English, Orange Tree

[pledge]

Another new script which appears to have been chosen using the pin and blindfold method. I always understood that a basic principle of drama was “Show don’t tell”, but a depressing feature of many new plays at this venue (Amsterdam, Last Easter, Two Billion Beats and the truly appalling Rice) has been the device of falling back on the cast simply telling the audience the events, thoughts and feelings, rather than the writer actually dramatising them – the effect being to simply lecture the audience. Well, this latest consists of NOTHING BUT cast narration – out of 90 interminable minutes maybe three or four felt genuinely dramatic. And though ostensibly about a group of English schoolboys in the 1930s the idiom is relentlessly 2022, because, presumably, this illustrates/highlights an ironic/symbolic difference/similarity of/to...oh, I don’t know what. To be fair a few lines evoked chuckles, and the cast are energetic and enthusiastic, but then but there is a bizarre and self-indulgent “event” towards the end which drains away what little energy or impetus there might have been. At the end the long-suffering audience applauded tepidly – surely they’re going to simply stop coming back? Is no-one at this theatre in charge of quality control? Has anyone there heard of dramatic tension, of plot development, of structure and subtext? Of the need to actually involve an audience and take them seriously, rather than simply talking at them?

[Dave B]

I think we enjoyed this more than you did but yes, really quite flawed. The three young men were all great and *some* of the staging was really effective. The tourguide interludes seemed utterly unnecessary and yes the 'event' you mention... yikes. I didn't need it to come out and shout Brexit at me for 5 minutes, the (not even) subtext throughout had covered this.

I don't mind the lecturing the audience so much, I think there is 100% a basis for something really good with this play and a bit of a critical eye earlier on might have helped a good bit.

[Jan]

May 1, 2022 11:26:20 GMT Dave B said:

 I didn't need it to come out and shout Brexit at me for 5 minutes, the (not even) subtext throughout had covered this.

Ha ha. Let me guess. It was opposed to Brexit ? At least they know what their local audience wants, totally unchallenging anodyne theatre - Richmond had one of the biggest Remain votes in the country. 

[joem]

Well, I was expecting worse... yes this suffers from various shortcomings  - the preachiness, the telling rather than showing and the way in which the play is constructed with interruptions from a tourist guide voiceover and a pretty unnecessary kind of epilogue.

If you can imagine a mash-up of Three Men In A Boat, Scott of the Antarctic, Picnic At Hanging Rock, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and the Jennings books you might get some idea of the spirit of this production. Unfortunately its knowing modernity clashes with the dated innocence of the characters and the good number of decent lines fail to save it.

On the plus side excellent performances, individually and as an ensemble, from the three young actors playing the plucky English boys in Hitler's Germany.

[imstillhere]

A rather pitiful play I think. It's so obviously the wrong form to tell this story that not even the strong performances can't really help it. The Orange Tree so desperately needs a new play which isn't just narration. I believe they also need a new play which feels surprising and ever so fresh. Will Paul Miller deliver another Pomona before he leaves?

[perfectspy]

I’m going to see this on Thursday, matinee show. I was unsure in booking but as I like the area, I thought I’d book. The last play I saw at OT was Rice which wasn’t good lol.