[AD – PR invite*]
★★
In the past year I have seen a lot of improvisational theatre and when I heard that theatre company Spare The Rod was planning to invite audiences to take part in an argument at Barons Court Theatre in London, it definitely piqued my interest. There are so many important conversations to be had about the world right now and I thought this could generate some really insightful debates between the performers and audience. However, ‘The Argument’ ended up being something entirely different and I left the venue perplexed, wondering how everything had started so well and suddenly pivoted to a point of confusion.
A show of two halves
Upon entering the venue for ‘The Argument’, I quickly realised that this is not your usual piece of theatre. Music plays in the background and blue shots are handed out, whilst a photographer takes pictures of the cast. Alfie Lanham-Brown and George Abbott welcome the audience in with their fun personas and kick off the performance with a story about a negative review that they had received for previous work. Using a slide deck, the pair explain that whilst they had received some positive feedback, they’d like to act on the comments of the particular reviewer with their new show. We learn that there are going to be three arguments during the 60-minute performance, with the final debate being driven entirely by the audience. Topic suggestions included cats, dogs and stealing from Greggs, but ultimately the Future of Theatre and AI were the chosen subjects. The concept started strong, but the time-boxed sections and the use of a buzzer to prevent off-topic conversation halted the discourse, just as the conversations started to get interesting.
Furthermore, after about 40 minutes everything is not what it seems and reality and fiction begin to blur. Without giving anything away, there is a sudden turn of events and it makes you question everything you have just watched. The bold creative choice left me totally confused; even more so when we were suddenly asked to leave at the end of the show, following a dance segment and a fight scene. It is clearly a theatrical experiment that uses a combination of scripted and improvised material to look at interactions between artists and audiences, but in my opinion it needs development for audiences to truly understand what the creatives are trying to say.
A theatrical experiment that doesn’t quite work
I had such high hopes for the production that was “going to answer some big questions via some serious discussion”, but for me, the creative risk-taking completely undermines the rapport Alfie and George earn early on. I am always supportive of theatre companies trying to do something different in the industry, but I’d much rather have seen a full 60 minutes of improvised argument than an abrupt ending that makes the production feel unfinished. ‘The Argument’ has been at Barons Court Theatre this week and has its final performance this evening. As always, this is just my personal opinion and someone else’s experience of the show might be totally different to mine.
Thanks for reading my blog today.
Love Kat xxxx
*My ticket for ‘The Argument’ was gifted in exchange for an unbiased review.
Comments