Student theatre. Its world can be variously cruel, chaotic, thrilling, and fulfilling. Splinters Productions’ The Players, written and directed by Sasha Ranawake and Camille Branch, knows this all too well. Following the actors in a university production of Romeo and Juliet as they converse backstage, Splinters Productions’ debut play explores all the vicissitudes of student theatre, from cringeworthy flirtation to tyrannical direction, crafting a tight one-hour production that simply overflows with laughs.
As the lights go up, we are introduced to Seb (who plays Romeo in the play-within-a-play, and is played in real life by George Robson) and Milo (playing Benvolio and played by Alfred Hennell Cole) sharing what is, ironically, one of the few moments of non-performance in the play, as they lie by one another, tenderly ruffling the other’s hair. The exact label on their relationship is ambiguous, but when Marcus (played by Toby Bruce) enters and Seb immediately disentangles himself from Milo, it becomes clear that Seb is hiding both his feelings for Milo and his sexuality, setting up a play concerned almost obsessively with performance, with the acting we do in our daily lives.
Soon, the rest of the cast for Romeo and Juliet is entering, and we are introduced to a whole slew of familiar university archetypes. Zee Lloyd Elliott plays the delightfully awkward Lachlan, who seems to be perpetually lugging around an anthology of literary theory; Gabriella Bedford plays Nadia, the obsessive and, at times, borderline abusive director; and Toby Bruce plays (with wonderful charisma, I must say) the infuriating rugby lad Marcus, who’s always ready to meet adversity with a reassuring ‘maaaaaaaate’ and the promise of a pint. As these characters roam about the stage while the action of Romeo and Juliet continues behind them, it’s no surprise that the laughs abound.
Creating the division between the world of Romeo and Juliet and The Players was always going to be difficult in this production, but an ingenious use of set design here makes it almost seamless: a veil separates the silhouettes performing Romeo and Juliet upstage from the actors conversing downstage. Branch and Ranawake, then, are able to deftly navigate the web of relationships that connect their characters, as they converse in small groups backstage before one or two are called onstage and leave the rest of the group behind.
Unsurprisingly, the play is replete with fantastic comic performances. Bruce plays Marcus with delightful comic timing, whether he’s awkwardly shuffling forward on a box while trying to flirt, sardonically quipping back at his director, or continuing his habit of dropping the word ‘mate’ into every sentence. Sanaa Pasha, playing Lizzy, must also be commended – not only because she’s now managed to be in three plays I’ve seen at the BT this term, but also for how well she embodies the ‘straight man’ archetype, perpetually baffled by the hijinks of her peers and persistently unimpressed with Marcus’ flirting. Enormous credit must also go to the play’s costumes, designed by the costume team of Esme Langdon (lead costume designer), Solene Gadsby and Victoria Corfield, which looked nothing short of fantastic.
As the play navigates the constantly overlapping worlds of offstage and onstage, however, there are minor issues. Setting the play up in thrust, while facilitating the use of the veil to separate Romeo and Juliet from what we see, does lead to some masking – actors standing in front of one another – meaning that (from where I was sitting) there were sections where I couldn’t see a single actor’s face. The cast’s minor issues with projection were also ultimately not helped by the choice to have the Romeo and Juliet dialogue occurring upstage audible to the audience, which sometimes drowned out more quiet, intimate conversations between the characters downstage. All of this, however, is entirely expected on opening night, and will doubtlessly be ironed out as the run goes on.
Overall, The Players is a thoroughly enjoyable hour of comedic fun, brimming with thought-provoking presentations of performance (both on and off stage), sexuality, and identity. Despite minor on-the-night issues, Branch and Ranawake have succeeded in creating a play that captures the chaotic reality of student theatre, repurposing it for an exploration of identity that manages to be heartfelt and intimate as well as delightfully funny. For all of the above in under an hour, The Players is certainly worth the price of admission.
[The Players, staged by Splinters Productions, is running at the Burton Taylor Studio 25th-29th Nov]