REVIEW: DON’T TAKE THE PITH at Drayton Arms Theatre 21 May – 1 June 2024

‘Farcical? Not really…’ ★

It’s the 1920s. Self-professed psychic Lady Susan Bloom and her sleuthing partner Lord Sebastian Hardcastle are summoned by The Crown to the colonial island of “Not-Borneo”. An important talisman of the local tribe which was in the keeping of His Majesty’s colonial representatives has gone missing, and Bloom and Hardcastle have been sent to find it.

The plot of Don’t Take the Pith, as with most farces, is thin, and the cast performed with gusto. But that’s where it ends. During the first half, I genuinely believed I was watching a poor am dram production, but on scanning the programme notes in the interval, I realised this was a professional company.

The acting style of a farce is deliberately heightened. The acting style in this show was forced and overdone, and sometimes grating. Given everyone was performing in this way, I can only assume this was a deliberate directorial choice. The physical comedy moments felt like bolt-ons rather than integral to the plot. For example, the “maid” character did a poor version of Victoria Wood’s “two-soups” sketch with cocktail glasses and a tray, even though the maid was young and the glasses were empty.

The writing was heavy handed, with sledgehammer humour, and the meta elements where characters in the play comment on the fact that they are in a play, was overdone. Less would definitely have been more on all counts.

If you are going to poke fun at colonialism and the racism and misogyny of the time you need to be more intentional about dismantling those tropes. The subject matter could have provided such brilliant material for a farce, which made ‘Don’t Take the Pith’ feel like a lost opportunity.

The costumes were a bizarre hodge podge of styles with no visual connection. (Why was the tribal queen in a slip and dressing gown with painted toenails?) The casting was equally bizarre. (Why was the tribal man black and the tribal queen a white woman?)

The set was the most effective part of the play, as it did create a sense of the 1920s and the audience seemed to be enjoying it.

I can always find something positive to say about a production. Always. But the fact that the only positive thing I can comment on was the set says everything. Such a shame. A great idea for a farce, but poorly executed.

Photography by Wala Arts

DON’T TAKE THE PITH by Peter Rae, from Canonbie Productions, Drayton Arms, 21 May 2024 – 1 June 2024, Box office: http://www.thedraytonarmstheatre.co.uk/

Performers: Helen Bang, Abigail Dawn, David Furlong, Laura Morgan

Peter Rae, Richard Rycroft, Billie Vee, Ola Teniola, LucyAnne Fletcher

Written by: Peter Rae

Director: Helen Bang

Reviewer: Srabani Sen

Srabani is a theatre actress and playwright. As an actress she has performed at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse (The Globe), the Arcola, Southwark Playhouse, The Pleasance and numerous fringe theatres, in a range of roles from Shakespeare to plays by new and emerging writers. She has written several short and full length plays. Her play Tawaif was longlisted for the ETPEP Finborough award, and her play Vijaya was shortlisted for the Sultan Padamsee Playwrights Award in Mumbai.