REVIEW: RUN AT IT LAUGHING by Mark Ravenhill at Wilton's Music Hall 9 May 2025
‘Joyful’
My now wife and I saw Shopping & F*cking in 1996 and it blew our minds. Shocking, visceral but very ‘real’ - it was like nothing I’d ever seen on stage before (in fairness aged 24 I hadn’t seen very much at that point). Whilst Mark Ravenhill has written many plays in the intervening years that show remains one of the greatest. And so, a mere 29 years later, I found myself outside the very lovely Wilton’s Music Hall and the great man is standing outside (we say Hello but I’m genuinely starstruck to say anything beyond that) ahead of 2 days of readings of 10 new plays.
Based on scenarios and stories first published by Flaminio Scala and inspired by commedia dell’arte scenarios in Italy in 1611, Run At It Laughing is a cycle of 10 plays each of around 90 minutes, and being presented as part of the industry workshop platform Run At It Shouting’s professional actor development programme. All very admirable and, furthermore, all proceeds from the shows benefit www.niaendingviolence.org.uk/ a project which runs services for women and girls who have been subject to sexual and domestic violence.
I’m in situ for the first play - Run At It Horny - which Ravenhill himself introduces and apologise for incoming rudeness and bawdiness. Sounds good. 10 actors sit in a line and with a guitar flourish we are off and running.
Now, the cynic in me finds that sometimes these ‘different ways of presenting theatre’ can be just too gimmicky and a bit of a letdown. For every Gatz (Elevator Repair Service) there is a, well, fill in your own blank. Here, thankfully, we are in safe hands. Pre-dating Shakespeare but with more than a whiff of many of his themes and traits, the first tale is suitably bawdy to the point of being pantomime-esque with lashings of mistaken identities, cross dressing and a man who, frankly, can’t get it up.
It took a while to get the story straight as, with only scripts in hand, the actors had to work hard to convey names and relationships to give the play focus and direction (this of course is more my problem than anything else). But this was joyful - a tad too long maybe - but with limited rehearsal time it was inspiring to see the group work so well together. It’s a tad unfair to pick out favourites but as Spavento, Omar Aga gave it some real oomph as did Fiona Spreadborough who was great fun as Franeschina as she tried too get Burratino - Kasper Faulkner, very good - to fulfil his husbandly duty…….
Continuing on Saturday 10th May with 5 more plays (all ‘Run At It…’) there is much joy to be found here as the human condition is held up for gentle ridicule but with bawdy seaside postcard humour that is most welcome. Good stuff.
Photos by Bec Austin
