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Watson's House House Play 2011 - ‘The Complete Works Of Shakespeare (Abridged)’

Watson’s have never been afraid to tackle challenging material for the House Drama Festival. Last year’s production of Endgame, for example, was a staggeringly brave choice, and so to attempt to transfer the RSC’s acclaimed reduced Shakespeare onto the Redgrave stage was again courageous. In order to tackle such a risky choice, a House must show commitment, relish and above all tremendous collective spirit, and in all these regards, Watson’s more than delivered.

The play began as it meant to continue – breaking the fourth wall as the narrator Freddie Blanks quipped effortlessly with the audience. In turn he introduced his fellow players who in turn recited and performed condensed versions of William Shakespeare’s complete works. Beginning with a comedically inspired adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, the highlight of which saw Jonny Ashe clamber atop an unsuspecting Freddie Blanks to recreate the famed balcony scene, the performance quickly romped into action. The belly laughs of the opening twenty minutes were among the loudest and heartiest heard in the auditorium of the Redgrave for many a year – with the irreverent quality of the RSC’s script being done complete justice by a cast with so much performance energy it was exhausting at times even to watch. For this, the co-directors Freddie Blanks and Mike Foxall-Smith deserve huge praise, for the challenge of the piece was certainly not the acting (which although hilarious was hardly demanding given the extent to which good old-fashioned hamming up was required), but the production and direction.

Having said that, it would be wrong to hide the fact that the performance lost a great deal of momentum after the opening 20 minutes (though this was almost inevitable given the sheer hilarity with which the play opened), and became a trifle predictable come the latter stages, but the final adaptation of Hamlet (performed several times and at varying paces and, most memorably, backwards) including the unforgettable line ‘off piss’ rejuvenated the uncontrolled comedy of the piece to crescendo into a stellar finale.

Although the ensemble should take collective credit, the comic value provided by Ed Sims and Jonny Ashe in particular should be praised, whilst a personal highlight was Nino Freuler’s scottish accent. The play almost encouraged the piece to consume itself in its own irreverence and farce, the odd stumbled line more than gotten away with due to the informal relationship the company had established with the delighting crowd. However, perhaps relying so obviously on a prompt from the wings was a step too far, but aside from this minor qualm – a highly well organized and spirited ensemble cast triumphed on a night of comic brilliance.

It is hard to overstate how refreshing it is to see, in a Festival swamped with adaptations of ageing sitcoms, a House such as Watson’s attempt and pull off such an innovative production. Far be it for me to speculate, particularly so soon into the Festival, but this was a play with all the hallmarks of a comedic winner.

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The first comedy of the Festival and what a laugh it was! Watson’s House being the self-dubbed ‘dark horse’ for this year’s competition really galloped through the hour as the Redgrave had audience members crying with laughter.

The choice of play was much more apt than last year when they bravely attempted End Game, as right from the off there were clear signs of enjoyment running across the faces of all of the actors. In particular co-director Freddie Blanks who bluffed his way through with a cheeky smile and a rather eccentric pair of tights. His partner in crime, Michael Foxall-Smith was very much in the thick of it, and it was clear to see that both had worked very hard in producing a very amusing bit of comedy. The direction was spot on, everybody knowing where they were coming from, whether it be the audience, where Ed Sims was to be found, or through the 'arched pillars' which gave a nice feel of actors being welcomed onto the stage.

The set, “this is a thing of mere fools”, with only a single chair to the left, for Freddie to take a rest on, was all rather simplistic yet with some clever lighting including a strobe, they managed to give a different atmosphere to the various plays.

Props were, like the set, few and far between, and except for the occasional sword or the retractable dagger, very little was needed. Of course there was the crown with which they managed to create a game of American Football, which was special to say the least.

Watson’s were very successful in acquiring all the different costumes that were needed, including the aforementioned eccentric tights, and more bizarre still, Nike or Adidas shoes.

The acting itself was that which can only be found if one looks very deeply into the barrel, yet through some fantastic changes, Jonny Ashe, who gave an utterly entrancing performance, went from being male to female and then back again and all the while kept on entertaining the audience.

He was not the only one though, as Rob Foxall-Smith, Tom Oliver and Nino Freuler aided the campaign with some fantastic fighting or in Nino's case, witchcraft. The whole cast really let loose and that was clear to see from the off with some rather interesting poses from Alex Galia and Luke Farmer. Little cameo roles from Daniel Clark and Carter Spurling also added to the ludicrousness that was Watson’s House Play.

Overall, I was very impressed with this farcical yet sophisticated production. Watson’s House really upped their game from last year and put in a stellar performance which not only gave everyone a good time, it managed to show that even the most ridiculous of plays can be turned into something great. All it needs is hard work and teamwork.