Gawain and the Green Knight is a comedic retelling of a 14th-Century Poem about the coming of age of an Arthurian Knight. This modern adaptation sees Gawain, catapulted in time to the company Christmas Party of Camelot Corp, a Cyber-Security firm with no heart. With new management, Gawain (Gary) does not fit the dynamic vision required by the new boss, Arthur. We join the story just as Gawain has been told he has been fired for being boring.
Gawain is your archetype, loyal and reliable employee with 10-year service and the audience immediately empathise with our office hero, navigating the cutthroat world of business. In a last-ditch effort, he accepts a challenge from the Green Knight in a quest to keep his job and win the heart of his colleague Gwynne.
What follows is Gawain's journey where he encounters five challenges that show his generosity, nobility, chastity, honour and courage.
This is a tight cast who work well as an ensemble, and it shows that they have a history of performing together. The four actors take on multiple roles that demonstrate their range of talent and characterisation. The show is written by two of the cast members Felix Grainger, (Gary/Gawain), who is anything but boring and Gabriel Forgarty-Graveson (Lance/Green Knight) who is an imposing presence in both roles. Their background in improvisation brings a great dynamic to both their writing and acting. The script is punchy, fast-moving and full of gags. There is an element of pantomime in the larger-than-life characters and throw away repeat jokes on the pronunciation of cyber-security that made me giggle.
Both Cara Steele – Arthur/Dryad & Laura Pujos (Gwynne/Hatty) both gave stand-out performances. Cara has great stage presence, and her feisty performances give a menacing impact to the characters. She is equally entertaining in the smaller roles of granny and disgruntled customer. Laura's characters, although softer, are equally impactful. She has an amazing singing voice and, at one point, sings a moving song in French in which she actually cried.
I loved the irony that Merlin is Ai (played by Shaun Chambers) and the scary reality that staff selection is now being made by a computer.
The costumes by Cieranne Kennedy-Bell were a perfect portrayal of the characters and the humour of the play. I particularly liked Arthur's suit, which would have looked great on any Paris/London/New York catwalk.
Kelly Ann Stewart's direction works well with a cleverly designed set by Simon Nicholas, a lift acting as a portal between scenes and worlds. The white set comprising the lift and walls of the filing draw not only worked well visually, with the draws providing seamless transitions through the story locations with them being used as steps, furniture and practical places to store and retrieve props from. It also allowed a blank canvas for lighting, designed by Caitlin MacGregor. There were a few blocking issues on a couple of occasions where I felt I missed a tiny bit of the action but that was more to do with where I was sitting rather than the directing and did not impact the majority of the action or spoil the evening.
This was a technically busy show for the sound designer Kenzia Tomsett, who also composed the music. The show is rich with music, sound effects and the Ai Voice of Merlin.
This comedy play gives the audience plenty to laugh about. For me, this is a perfect play to see with friends and better than any Christmas party. Something that was endorsed by the audience as the cast were rewarded with a standing ovation, which was well deserved.
It runs until 10 January.
Review: Claire Hogan Photo: Kira Turnpenny