“Shall we begin with Killer King Pharaoh who would not ‘let my people go’? No, let one who, from fear of a prophesied new age, plunged households into mourning with a rage of infanticide, serve as the enabling Progenitor. From the Herodian mould sprang the dynasties of King Hitler, and his twin brother, Joseph Stalin...”
Another performance tied to a pulpit and again it didn’t quite work for me, though it was filled with interesting ideas, though I liked the comparisons to modern despots, though I loved the use of Prophet Jimmy Cliff and thought Peter De Jersey was wonderful as always – I just overall found it too long and a little confusing. Even reading it back now, I keep finding myself loosing the thread of its argument.
11. The Suleman by Roy Williams (1 Kings)
“It’s all about image Doni. If they see me fleecing you, my own brother, they know I will not think twice about fleecing them. Get me?”
Roy Williams moved his version of 1 Kings into a modern setting, placing it within the context of gang warfare and the setting works as an arena for the discussion of kingship. But it felt a little like it lacked horror for me, the idea behind it, the betrayal of a brother, is horrifying but somehow that emotion didn’t translate for me in the production.
12. Two Bears by Sam Burns (2 Kings)
“QUEEN CONSORT: Well, it’s not too shabby a turnout. For a Monday.
KING: Not if you count the abusers, certainly.
QUEEN CONSORT: And in all this drizzle. Aren’t your people hardy?
KING: Truly we’re very magnetic.”
Another modern setting for Burns’ regal visit to a cheese factory and one that certainly kept me giggling throughout, but again it felt like well it had the lightness it lacked the horror. I wanted to be chilled by the twist at the end but I wasn’t and I’m not sure why.
13. The Chronicles by Salena Godden (1 Chronicles) *
“And soon the story, the first story, was fragmented, the first story was many stories and it was all stories, and all of those stories had holes too, pieces from the first story and pieces of their own invention, all of these stories, grew fat and filled with other pieces of stories and pieces of other stories. The first story begat stories begat stories begat stories.
Then there came the first writer, who was the one who said: hang on a minute, that’s good, let me get a stick and get that down. And with that, the first story was taken from the mouth, plucked from the air and scribbled with a stick in the dust. That first story, it was written in blood and tears and sweat and it was stained on walls with the juice of berries.
That first story was written, it came from the heart to the mind to the mouth to the ear to the hand and to the eye, it came from the root of the first story, the story was told and the story was heard and now the story was seen. And the root of that first story is love, the story of love, the life of love, the love of life, the living love and loving life.”
Despite there being many, many plays I loved during the 24 hours and probably some I loved even more than this one – if I had to choose just one to see again, I think this would be it. It spoke so much to my own passions, climaxing in a list of all the storytellers who have shaped our world and linking them into this beautiful central concept. Plus despite quite long and crammed full of information in some ways (things I’d struggled with previously), it worked because of the profound simplicity of the main idea, the use of repetition and a wonderfully balanced rhythm within the piece. On top of which, Joshua McGuire was absolutely marvellous – bringing the perfect balance of enthusiasm and wonder and joy and energy and that sense of grasping to explain something so important whilst maintaining clarity. Absolutely gripping from start to finish.
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14. From Solomon to Cyrus the Great by Tim Rice and Stuart Brayson (2 Chronicles) *
“Yet bards must never from their duty shirk
To bring true stories to the world at large
Not every king of Judah was a jerk
But quite enough were hopeless when in charge”
I never thought going into the 66 Books that the books of the Chronicles would inspire two of my favourite performances – but this was almost as glorious as the previous piece. Charming and funny from the war-off at the beginning between the pianist and Hugh Skinner on guitar, to his troubadouresque earnest crooning and wry expressions. Absolutely loved it.
15. The Strange Wife by Naomi Foyle (Ezra)
“She gave me a name that means ‘bitter, uncertain’
Because my land and her song were bitter, uncertain.
The sweet kiss of youth meant nothing to me;
in my school, the young were bitter, uncertain.
We refused to take candy from enemy soldiers.
We knew we were stronger bitter, uncertain.
She watched and she waited for a man to adore me.
But my heart was a stranger, bitter, uncertain.
And when I fell hard for the one I should not have
I came home to harangue her, bitter, uncertain.”
I really liked this piece, a meditation on religious divides on both the political and familial levels, and a look at the complicated dynamics of family, love and duty. It manages to be both poetic and real, carefully observed and lyrical. It’s a lovely mix and Sasha Behar as Mariam is wonderful, capturing the ache of the piece in a slightly withheld but emotionally involving performance.
16. When He Had Been Loved by Mandla Langa (Nehemiah)
“There was nothing remarkable about the new land; it looked like some of the places he knew, the farms where he had worked when on school vacation or other fenced off acreages owned by white people, where he had started to suspect that something was wrong in the land. Here the bleakness was in the bleached stones, the scattered huts fashioned out of straw and cast-off things, the hills, a dull, tawny desert leavened by scrub dominated by thorny mimosas.”
Another prose piece, playing with the concept of memory and inspiration, quite dense but brought beautifully to life by Leo Wringer and through a few subtle but wonderful production effects. I was particularly impressed by some of the lighting. Genuinely quite moving.
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Part 3
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