The Theatre of Heaven and Hell
Proudly presents
Perry Pontac’s
HAMLET PART II
Directed by Michael Ward
****Previews: 11-14th August 7.30pm Upstairs at the Railway Hotel, Southend-on-Sea - £5.00 on the door or click here for online purchase****
18th – 21st August 2016 7.30pm
Hen and Chicken’s Theatre, Islington
Tickets: unrestrictedview.co.uk
Proudly presents
Perry Pontac’s
HAMLET PART II
Directed by Michael Ward
****Previews: 11-14th August 7.30pm Upstairs at the Railway Hotel, Southend-on-Sea - £5.00 on the door or click here for online purchase****
18th – 21st August 2016 7.30pm
Hen and Chicken’s Theatre, Islington
Tickets: unrestrictedview.co.uk
“Who will fill the throne now all are gone...?”
The Theatre of Heaven and Hell are made up of a group of professional actors who made the risky decision to put on plays which they loved but ones that quite possibly the average theatre-goer may not necessarily be aware of. Artistic Director, Elena Clements, explains “Being professional actors, we obviously want to be working. Theatre of Heaven and Hell was formed from us all having a mutual love of the absurd and the need to be pro-active and put on our own productions. It’s all about creating a platform for ourselves really.”
On that platform Elena is joined by Nick Bright, Darren Ruston and Brian Eassty, all of whom have a wealth of acting experience, along with director, Mike Ward. Together they are bringing Perry Pontac’s absurdist comedy, Hamlet II, back into theatrical awareness next month. This will be their third production having previously put on N. F. Simpson’s The Hole and Eugène Ionesco’s The Lesson to considerable critical acclaim.
They will be appearing at their regular haunt, The Hen and Chickens Pub in Islington as part of the Camden Fringe Festival in August, with previews in their home town of Southend-on-Sea from 11th to the 14th August at Southend’s iconic Railway Hotel. The Southend pub is well known for showcasing much of the area’s musical talent however, says director, Mike, “The pub’s management came to see the play we put on last year, The Hole, at The Hen and Chickens and instantly realised that it was something which would be perfect for their pub. They approached me to see if it was something we could develop in the future.” Mike hopes that if the previews are well attended, then this is a venue that can become a home for the group. “It would be great to have a base in Southend.” he tells me.
Of the Islington venue where they will be performing in the Camden Fringe Festival, Mike enthuses, “The Hen and Chickens is a great venue for us to showcase our work; the comedian, Bill Bailey, tries out his new stuff there all the time. It’s got a great reputation.”
So what was the appeal of Perry Pontac for the group? Pontac is an American who has lived and worked in London for over forty years. He is a remarkably consistent and successful comic writer, with a manner all his own. All of the thirteen plays, he has so far written for radio, exploit extreme situations and ornate language for comic purposes but it's only with Codpieces, comprising three of Pontac's Shakespearean parodies, Hamlet II, Prince Lear and Fatal Loins, that they now at last find their way into print. Pontac attracts first-rate performers and certain actors feature repeatedly in his plays including John Moffat, Miriam Margoyles, Peter Jeffrey and Simon Russell Beale.
One of Pontac’s biggest fans is none other than playwright extraordinaire, Alan Bennett, who says of his plays, “Parodies they are, but told in the form of prefaces and continuations: what happens after Fortinbras turns up at the end of Hamlet or before Lear takes it into his head to share out his kingdom? Say Romeo and Juliet didn't die, what is in store for them 20 years down the road? Pontac stands to the side of these familiar masterpieces, treating them with irony rather than disrespect and in language so close to Shakespeare's that it's a while before the penny drops and one realises this is parody of the highest order.”
So, with their passion for absurdist comedy, Pontac’s play seemed to be an ideal choice for The Theatre of Heaven and Hell. The first of his Codpiece trilogies, Hamlet II (written in 1992) was considered by the group to be the funniest and with lines like this, spoken of the late Laertes for instance, it’s no wonder:-
'A corpse who even now
Is freshly festering in a nearby grave
With all the zest of youth.'
The play picks up where Hamlet ends with the only person left in Elsinore being the librarian, played by Elena, until a returning ambassador, played by Darren, comes along.
Watching them all in rehearsal, you get a sense that this play has a weirdly barmy mix of Shakespeare meets Monty Python meets Black Adder kind of vibe about it which should hit the comedic nails on the heads of most theatre-goers, however, I wonder if it is a play that can perhaps only be appreciated by those knowledgable of Shakespeare’s works. Elena thinks that the Bard’s fans will definitely appreciate the humour but not exclusively. She says, “If you know Hamlet, then obviously that will help but to be honest as long as you appreciate that everyone dies at the end of Hamlet, then you’ll probably ‘get it’.”
With this year being the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, what better way to celebrate the Bard’s works than by seeing a play written by someone who, as Alan Bennett suggests, would be Shakespeare if he could, instead he simulates him so exactly that it's only gradually that one realises how gloriously silly it is.
“So skilful and silly, they are a gift to actors and a tonic for audiences. Nobody else is doing this. They should be seen.” Alan Bennett
And with that glowing endorsement, you would be absurdly mad to miss out on this theatrical treat.
Tickets for the Southend previews at the Railway Hotel are available by clicking here and for more details of the Camden Fringe Festival click here
Twitter: @theatrehell
Facebook: search @theatrehell
On that platform Elena is joined by Nick Bright, Darren Ruston and Brian Eassty, all of whom have a wealth of acting experience, along with director, Mike Ward. Together they are bringing Perry Pontac’s absurdist comedy, Hamlet II, back into theatrical awareness next month. This will be their third production having previously put on N. F. Simpson’s The Hole and Eugène Ionesco’s The Lesson to considerable critical acclaim.
They will be appearing at their regular haunt, The Hen and Chickens Pub in Islington as part of the Camden Fringe Festival in August, with previews in their home town of Southend-on-Sea from 11th to the 14th August at Southend’s iconic Railway Hotel. The Southend pub is well known for showcasing much of the area’s musical talent however, says director, Mike, “The pub’s management came to see the play we put on last year, The Hole, at The Hen and Chickens and instantly realised that it was something which would be perfect for their pub. They approached me to see if it was something we could develop in the future.” Mike hopes that if the previews are well attended, then this is a venue that can become a home for the group. “It would be great to have a base in Southend.” he tells me.
Of the Islington venue where they will be performing in the Camden Fringe Festival, Mike enthuses, “The Hen and Chickens is a great venue for us to showcase our work; the comedian, Bill Bailey, tries out his new stuff there all the time. It’s got a great reputation.”
So what was the appeal of Perry Pontac for the group? Pontac is an American who has lived and worked in London for over forty years. He is a remarkably consistent and successful comic writer, with a manner all his own. All of the thirteen plays, he has so far written for radio, exploit extreme situations and ornate language for comic purposes but it's only with Codpieces, comprising three of Pontac's Shakespearean parodies, Hamlet II, Prince Lear and Fatal Loins, that they now at last find their way into print. Pontac attracts first-rate performers and certain actors feature repeatedly in his plays including John Moffat, Miriam Margoyles, Peter Jeffrey and Simon Russell Beale.
One of Pontac’s biggest fans is none other than playwright extraordinaire, Alan Bennett, who says of his plays, “Parodies they are, but told in the form of prefaces and continuations: what happens after Fortinbras turns up at the end of Hamlet or before Lear takes it into his head to share out his kingdom? Say Romeo and Juliet didn't die, what is in store for them 20 years down the road? Pontac stands to the side of these familiar masterpieces, treating them with irony rather than disrespect and in language so close to Shakespeare's that it's a while before the penny drops and one realises this is parody of the highest order.”
So, with their passion for absurdist comedy, Pontac’s play seemed to be an ideal choice for The Theatre of Heaven and Hell. The first of his Codpiece trilogies, Hamlet II (written in 1992) was considered by the group to be the funniest and with lines like this, spoken of the late Laertes for instance, it’s no wonder:-
'A corpse who even now
Is freshly festering in a nearby grave
With all the zest of youth.'
The play picks up where Hamlet ends with the only person left in Elsinore being the librarian, played by Elena, until a returning ambassador, played by Darren, comes along.
Watching them all in rehearsal, you get a sense that this play has a weirdly barmy mix of Shakespeare meets Monty Python meets Black Adder kind of vibe about it which should hit the comedic nails on the heads of most theatre-goers, however, I wonder if it is a play that can perhaps only be appreciated by those knowledgable of Shakespeare’s works. Elena thinks that the Bard’s fans will definitely appreciate the humour but not exclusively. She says, “If you know Hamlet, then obviously that will help but to be honest as long as you appreciate that everyone dies at the end of Hamlet, then you’ll probably ‘get it’.”
With this year being the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, what better way to celebrate the Bard’s works than by seeing a play written by someone who, as Alan Bennett suggests, would be Shakespeare if he could, instead he simulates him so exactly that it's only gradually that one realises how gloriously silly it is.
“So skilful and silly, they are a gift to actors and a tonic for audiences. Nobody else is doing this. They should be seen.” Alan Bennett
And with that glowing endorsement, you would be absurdly mad to miss out on this theatrical treat.
Tickets for the Southend previews at the Railway Hotel are available by clicking here and for more details of the Camden Fringe Festival click here
Twitter: @theatrehell
Facebook: search @theatrehell
Below: the cast in rehearsal (photo credit: David Hannington)
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Part of Perry Pontac’s trilogy of parodies ‘Codpieces’, Hamlet Part II answers a question about Hamlet that has plagued scholars, readers and playgoers for over four hundred years: "What happened next?" 400 years later, in the Bard’s anniversary year, Theatre of Heaven and Hell will be solving the mystery in the form of this brilliant sequel. “
The plays of Perry Pontac have been a well-kept secret for far too long. So skilful and silly, they are a gift to actors and a tonic for audiences. Nobody else is doing this. They should be seen." - Alan Bennett from the foreword to ‘Codpieces’ Theatre of Heaven and Hell are dedicated to producing absurdist plays and reviving forgotten gems. Darren Ruston, Elena Clements, Brian Eassty and Nick Bright regroup to produce this wonderful piece of comic genius. “Ruston, Clements et al are equally compelling... and it is onwards and most definitely upwards from here...” – bargaintheatreland.com on ‘The Lesson’ Click on the link below for more details the Camden Fringe
www.camdenfringe.com |
Strangely Brilliant - **** - reviewshub on ‘The Hole’
Heartfelt conviction ****- uktheatre.net on ‘The Hole’
Heartfelt conviction ****- uktheatre.net on ‘The Hole’
Top: Elena Clements and Nick Bright
Bottom: Darren Ruston and Brian Eassty
Bottom: Darren Ruston and Brian Eassty