After The Applause

I went to see Mark Jagasia’s brand new dark comedy play on its final night at the Arcola Theatre. The Arcola is small and intimate and this atmosphere certainly suited the twisted, yet hillarious plot of The Double Act.

Sarah Beaton’s stage design is just a basic old flat with a large couch in the middle of it, this certainly sets the tone of the piece. When it first started it seemed rather innocent in a way, just an elderly comedian going to visit his old friend. However as Jagasia slowly introduces us to the complexities and traits of Billy Bash (played brilliantly by Nigel Betts) we see that this is going to be the opposite of innocent and the plot is not basic at all! Jagasia’s writing incorporates several genres however, upon reading the synopsis I certainly didn’t expect there to be elements of thriller, with plot twists and shocking revelations sown in throughout Act 2.

Unfortunately as a 16 year old, some of the jokes about past celebrities from the ‘golden age of comedy’ as one of the characters puts it, went way over my head (hence the lower review). I still understood most of the comic aspects and certainly enjoyed the few moments of slap stick comedy (which I love!).

It is very very dark, especially surrounding the character of Cliff Biddle (portrayed by Nigel Cooke in superb fashion) who is originally painted as a comedian who has run out of luck, forgotten and delved into a life of public indecency crimes and essentially a man who has lost his marbles. However as Billy probes into Cliff it is certainly apparent that he is not clueless at all, which means he was completely aware of the horrible things that he has done over the past few years. The larger plot twist comes in Act 2 surrounding Gulliver (played by Edward Hogg) who is revealed to not just be Cliff’s renting housemate but in fact a man set out to avenge the comedic duo for events that occurred in his past.

It is all very twisted and the laughs truly do cease towards the end as the audience ponders over the message left by Jagasia. The ending itself fell flat to me and it didn’t entirely make sense, however I understand it was hard to create a gripping finale after all the plot twists have been revealed.

MY VERDICT:

Jagasia writes a twisted and comedic play that thrives in the intimacy of the Arcola, and is brought to life by 3 stellar actors who relish in not only the comedic aspects but also the moments of realisation and sometimes horror. For me, I felt rather let down by the ending due to the rest of the play being so cleverly crafted and gripping. However I won’t dwell on it, and came out of it still laughing at certain jokes whilst thinking about the feelings and messages it evoked within me

My standout performers were:

All 3 of them, it is difficult to do a play with only three characters however they took Jagasia’s dialogue and did so well with it!

Unfortunately Double Act has finished at the Arcola now, hopefully we can see it back on the stage soon!