THEATRE
*****
Coffin Up
Pleasance Dome
One of the finest examples of mask theatre I’ve seen in my entire life, which is all the more remarkable given the tiny space they were performing it in.
I really don’t get undertakers. Basically delivery men who put a package in a box, deliver it to a landfill site or incinerator and operate a taxi service for an hour or so and charge a ludicrous amount of money for doing so. Yet done with a fake solemnity for someone they don’t know. I hadn’t thought of it in this way before but actually a form of theatre. I think the same thoughts must have occurred to The Village Idiots, whose show this is.
Another thing I didn’t get for a long time was mask theatre. Why would anyone want to see theatre where you can’t see the actors faces? Then I saw a show and was captivated. For what it enables the actors to do is to turn into an instantly recognisable yet totally different character. At least if they are any good and this lot are.
The story such as it is involves Grimm & Co, undertakers in the healthiest village in Britain and two love struck staff. Times are indeed grim for Mr Grimm with unpaid bills and bailiffs at the door. Facing bankruptcy with some very dark humour he decides to drum up some new business. I laughed throughout, although some of the humour was so dark that I got a couple of glances from other audience members as if to say “you really shouldn’t be laughing at that”. I didn’t care, I was there to enjoy myself which is exactly what I did.
With music throughout, not a word is spoken by the cast nor does it need to be, the meaning shines through. Superb directing by Amanda Wilsher and first class acting by the cast. I’ll deliberately not name them nor say how many of them there are nor how many are male or female. Wait until the end of the show and gasp when they remove their masks.
