It’s 4 November, the local arts festival has commissioned a new play, expecting to see a historical drama about the events of 1605. Starring, written and directed by Jamie King, the show uses the story of the gunpowder plot to symbolise the fight against homophobia, led by protagonist Gay Fawkes. The script is as terrible as it sounds. The actors fear for their reputations, and plot in secret to sabotage opening night. Ten minutes before curtain up, they decide to set off the smoke detectors, forcing an evacuation of the building. What could possibly go wrong? The play contains strong language and adult humour wrapped up in outrageous costumes and eye-popping props.
PLOT was presented as part of an exclusive preview double bill of fringe theatre in partnership with Peppered Wit Productions on the 31st May 2019 at The Atic, Banbury, and the 1st June 2019 at Middleton Cheney Village Hall. Peppered Wit performed the two-handed thriller ‘The Wasp’, by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm, which they went on to perform at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August.
PLOT competed in the 2019 Lighthorne Festival and won praise from audiences and fellow competitors alike. Adjudicator Mike Kaiser, (GoDA) described the play as: “A masterpiece of kitsch”, calling it a “broad, scurrilous comedy with “sharp writing and good gags” that “hit the right tone”. He praised the cast and said the show was “Outrageously camp… with more shades than I expected”.
A sequel “The Plot Thickens” picks up the action a year later, and will be performed in 2021.
Cast & Crew
Richard Lee Harris
Jon Alex Nicholls
Susan Emily Vint
Alison Kim Nicholls
James Adam Harris
Janitor Gill Peeling
Written & Directed by Kay Andrews-Kuhn
Original music by Adam Harris
All the tech stuff Joanna Bailey
Photos courtesy of Lighthorne Festival