So, with time to kill, and money too; what better way to satisfy ones pompous university-attending pretention than going to see a play ?
The Logue of Thomas P.T. Lawrence: 'An absurd comedy with Gothic elements'; The gardener thinks he is the maid, the maid thinks she is the butler, the butler thinks he is a dog and a stick appeared to be the gardener whilst an orphan child sat in a wardrobe grinning creepily... No, in my attempts to think of some way to possibly convey the plot to someone who had not witnessed the thing first hand, I am at a complete loss. Enter playbill synopsis: "While living in a tiny house covered in blackberries, Mr Thomas P.T. Lawrence, a fanciful writer who enjoys talking to a black berry her has grown in a pot, receives a letter informing him that he has inherited a manor from a recently deceased uncle whom Thomas never knew existed. But when Thomas arrives at the manor there is something amiss with the servants who appear to be in the grips of a peculiar melancholia and nostalgic ritual.
Believing that there is more than mere melancholia at work, Thomas endeavours to discover the meaning behind the madness, expounding his thoughts in a dialogue with his pot-plant bramble."
This truly is the most absurd comedy I've ever been witness to, but it is done so well. Dann Barber (director and Thomas Lawrence) delivers just over 2 hours of thick dialogue, two thirds of which are monologue, without dropping a word. Brilliant acting from the rest of the cast and excellent original music being played live, in the background of the magnificent set uphold the eerie mood that carries through the play. Words cannot fully express how much of a delight this gem of a play was, and how fortunate I was to have stumbled upon it accidental while on the search for something else.
Well worth my $20, and with a lovely reminder of the play via cameos from the creepy orphan child plaguing my dreams for the night.
