Can't pay, won't pay, must see
Laurence Pope reviews DramSoc's most recent production
Once more I managed to wangle my way into watching DramSoc’s second spring term production, Can’t Pay? Won’t Pay!, Nobel laureate Dario Fo’s 1974 farcical comedy, involving pseudo-pregnant woman, confused husbands and a suspiciously similar-looking string of police inspectors and undertakers. I was promised a barrelful of laughs, and I certainly didn’t leave empty handed.
_CP?WP! _revolves around two frustrated housewives, Antonia and Margherita (Sophie Hernando Kofman & Sinéad Ward), inciting chaos in their local supermarket and making off with a stack of goods. Life is far from simple, and very quickly their husbands (played by Tommy Partl & Tom Cunningham) grow suspicious. Cue a bizarre revolutionary policeman (Hasan Al-Farhan) and you have a recipe for chaos (and hilarity!) as the two women do all they can to evade both arrest and the ire of their hubbies.
More than once the cast ended up giggling during exaggerated scenes
It sounds very weird at first – you might fear that a play about women stuffing bags of fruit and veg down their coats would struggle to remain fresh and funny throughout. Thankfully this was not the case as the energetic cast kept the script from falling flat and ensured the physical humour and over-the-top scenes were delivered with aplomb.
It’s clear that the actors involved have been enjoying themselves during rehearsals. An advantage of watching full performance rehearsals is that you get to see the little blips that occur when there’s not a large judging audience present. More than once the cast ended up giggling during particularly exaggerated scenes, and it was great to see them still enjoying their roles, even after weeks of practicing. The failure of Hasan’s fake moustache to stay on his face didn’t help matters much, though its repeated picking up and sticking back on only added positively to the farce.
Even with its low budget and small production team Can’t Pay? Won’t Pay! doesn’t fail to impress. If you’re suffering from Monday blues, this is the perfect remedy. But please, for the sake of DramSoc’s finances, don’t start holding up the front of house and begin stuffing tickets down your shirt.
Can’t Pay? Won’t Pay! shows from 11 – 13 March at Metric. Tickets on the door: £3 for students, £5 non-students.
