Shows promise with its fun premise and talented cast
We meet siblings Jack, Sarah, and Connor in their family pub, The Nag’s Head, at the end of their father’s wake. We soon learn that Dad had been the one who kept the pub running, and when he got ill, his son Jack (Felix Granger), was left to shoulder the responsibility of caring for him, and the pub. The pub is now in steep decline and the mourning children debate how to save it. Sarah (Cara Steele), has a devious plan to sell the pub off to the Greene King chain. It’s a classic story of David and Goliath. A brother tries to save a small, unique, independent pub from the claws of big business and homogeneity. Add a cursed painting into the mix, and a real-life ghost story unfolding in front of our eyes, and we have a fun premise (reminiscent of comedy horror films like Hot Fuzz).
It seems we as an audience would benefit from a little time to settle into the mundane, grounded world of ShireShire (a town where nothing much ever changes), and the fun and relaxed relationship of the 3 siblings before things all go a bit wacky and they all descend into madness. However, the acting is immediately heightened, and the script is mostly set-ups and gags from the start with a few bits of histrionic crying about Dad’s death, mixed in with moments of text that feel like they should be delivered naturalistically. Overall, the tone of the opening is confused. Some of the gags land with the audience, while others feel overly laboured. The laughs come more naturally when the actors make honest character moves, rather than relying on gags.
The heightened tone begins to fit better when larger-than-life characters appear. The cast all multi-role; Gabriel Fogarty-Graveson’s portrayal of the Greene King Representative is particularly enjoyable, with his green sparkly tie and maniacal laugh. Felix Granger’s chaotic portrayal of Dr. G. Host (a Ghost tour guide of course) adds to the fun, especially with his questionable accent.
The set and props are clear and well used. A bar onstage with functioning taps is no mean feat. The costuming is basic but gets the point across mostly. Sound and lighting could have been used more to clarify the boundary between the surreal and reality, to heighten the horror aspects of the piece, and to help the audience understand when things were meant to be ‘ghostly’. This seems especially necessary in scenes where ghosts appear onstage, and in the final scene where one character is possessed. Also, we had a little bit of confusion in terms of the agreed ‘language’ of the ghost world. In one scene a character interacts with a ghost that is invisible to the audience (and a lot of mime ensues for comic effect). However, in the next scene a ghost is portrayed by one of the actors multi-roling. Both sections are fun but could have benefited from clearer setups.
On the whole, Nag’s Head offers a colourful cast of fun characters skilfully portrayed by the talented cast. There is plenty of silliness and Halloween spookiness to enjoy. As a first outing of a new play, I would say this shows great potential to be developed further. I would hope that future iterations clarify the tone of the piece and trim the gags.
Plays: Tue 17 Oct – Sat 28 Oct 2023
https://parktheatre.co.uk/