Post by joem on Apr 12, 2023 23:43:25 GMT
Presented as an examination on cancel culture and rule by virtual mobs, Robert Boulton's play - nominated for an Offie when it was performed at the Old Red Lion last year - started a run tonight at Park90.
It's a play which has a lot to say for itself but I feel it sometimes skirts around the issues it seeks to address and is vague on specifics - example, it takes ages to find out what the controversial character may have said/done - and has too much abstract discussion.
Very Dumb Waiterish in some ways, the scene is well set and staged, with two (let us call them to avoid spoilers) "activists" confronting a possible offender - as identified and accused by Twittermob - in a "me too" type scenario.
Drifting into areas of dystopic near science-fiction, the play posits a society where popularity and populism replace the justice system, and gladiatorial trial by twitter on the net decides who will survive, who will flourish and who will be cancelled. Who judges the judges, who scrutinises the accusers and who ensures the accused receive a fair trial; these are questions which increasingly seem to matter less as the accusation effectively acts as a sentence before the act.
Intensely acted by the cast of three, including author Boulton as a smiling psychopath, there are interesting questions here but they need to have a sharper focus.
It's a play which has a lot to say for itself but I feel it sometimes skirts around the issues it seeks to address and is vague on specifics - example, it takes ages to find out what the controversial character may have said/done - and has too much abstract discussion.
Very Dumb Waiterish in some ways, the scene is well set and staged, with two (let us call them to avoid spoilers) "activists" confronting a possible offender - as identified and accused by Twittermob - in a "me too" type scenario.
Drifting into areas of dystopic near science-fiction, the play posits a society where popularity and populism replace the justice system, and gladiatorial trial by twitter on the net decides who will survive, who will flourish and who will be cancelled. Who judges the judges, who scrutinises the accusers and who ensures the accused receive a fair trial; these are questions which increasingly seem to matter less as the accusation effectively acts as a sentence before the act.
Intensely acted by the cast of three, including author Boulton as a smiling psychopath, there are interesting questions here but they need to have a sharper focus.