REVIEW: JOSEPH AND THE STAG by Sam John at The Hen and Chickens Theatre 6 - 10 May 2025

‘An original piece of storytelling.’ ★★★

‘Joseph and The Stag’ is billed as a dark comedy but has more than its fair share of vividly depicted scatological humour as well. The play starts with the heaving grunting and groaning of a man carrying a heavy bundle through a howling gale. Without a word being spoken we are thrown back into the early 1800s. Here our protagonist at last has felled a stag, and so will no longer live in the shadow of his father, the legendary hunter.

To put the victory at the beginning of the play at first feels like a conclusion and we were left wondering what more is there to happen. It couldn’t all be over in the first ten minutes, surely! Unfortunately for Joseph this was not the end but only the beginning. The ingenuity of putting the twist in the plot at the beginning instead of the end put the audience into the right frame of mind to come along with Joseph on his weird, frustrating and at times very funny journey. It felt like we were all a bit lost together. If the whole purpose of his life was now fulfilled, then why was he cast into an abyss? Maybe it was to show the rest of us that we all need and will always need some kind of purpose, aim or goal in life. From a slightly surreal mad comedy was evolving a rather philosophical conundrum. Luckily it only lasted an hour as much more might have resulted in utter confusion. Short of getting your head done in it was on the whole good entertainment.

The live music, supplied by Lucinda Freeburn on solo violin, was perfect really. It was never out of place, always bang on cue and was funny, scary, atmospheric and even moving. The ‘creature’ looked great and was performed by Ariane Lenihan whose stature and poise gave it just the right appearance. The varying lighting effects also made it look very dramatic. The directing by Annabel Lisk tied the whole together in what could have proven to be a cramped space, but it was all put together perfectly.

The whole concept was an original piece of storytelling but instead of reaching out to the audience and trying to be funny it might have worked better if it concentrated more on drawing us into the strange world we saw on stage. Although Sam John, the writer and performer, gave a fair performance I wonder what would have been the result if such original work was given to somebody else for them to play with. 

Photography credit: Hannah Zoé Ankrah with @zoejpegs

BOX OFFICE https://www.unrestrictedview.co.uk/joseph-and-the-stag/

Creative Team

Director - Annabel Lisk

 Writer & Actor - Sam John

 Violinist & Associate Director - Lucinda Freeburn

 Actor - Ariane Lenihan

 LX Designer - Josh Munday

 Producer - Sam John

Production Assistant - Ashna Rabheru