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The revival of Peter Mottley’s forgotten plays unearths an intriguing insight into a Shakespearean classic.Summary
Rating
Good
The Crooked Billets Theatre Company presents Before Nell / After Agincourt at Theatre at the Tabard. Directed by BAFTA nominated Paul Olding and written in the 1980s by Peter Mottley, the monologues are inspired by Shakespeare’s Henry V and provide two unique and engaging perspectives of the renown play.
Before Nell is told through the eyes of an adolescent male actor, played by Felix Uff, as he prepares to ‘take the stage as Nell Quickly aka Madame Pistol in the first ever production of Shakespeare’s play, Henry V’. In an unglamorous dressing room, we’re introduced to the Boy Actor who’s now relegated to playing older female characters due to his voice having broken recently. Backstage permits a tiny glimpse into 16th century London, and as he preps for his role, he unveils a life that’s grim, exciting and completely uncertain. Uff conveys the buoyancy of one eager to do well alongside his fellow actor Edward Alleyn. He divulges, with an air of ingenuous humour, the sordid and macabre aspects of London life and the precariousness of being young and potentially exploited by older men. Yet, his cheeky anecdotes belie a wounded disposition as he reveals a life of hardship that has now left him alone– discovering what it means to be a man and gaining insight, ironically, through his many portrayals of women.
Uff does well at capturing the dichotomy of naivety and wisdom within his character; yet, his performance is hindered slightly by its delivery. Within the small, intimate theatre parts of his dialogue is inaudible, rushed and lacking projection. Uff is visibly thrown off when mistakes are made and appears to noticeably ad lib to compensate those missteps.
From behind the scenes of Henry V, we’re thrust into the depths of the play itself with After Agincourt. First performed in 1988 by Bob Hoskins for BBC Radio 3, the monologue takes place in The Boar’s Head Tavern where we meet Pistol, a former soldier and husband to the character Nell Quickly. Pistol, played by Gareth David-Lloyd, is drunk and visibly troubled as he bitterly details the horrors of the 1415 English invasion in France. His scathing depiction of young King Henry differs vastly from the valiant portrayal exhibited in Shakespeare’s rendering. Pistol witnesses the drastic change in Henry– from a down to earth scamp drinking ale with the regulars to a pious, brutal leader. He describes the suffering and degradation endured by the soldiers during the battle and compares the stark difference in treatment received by the nobles. What pains Pistol most is the betrayal he feels from his once friend Henry and how this fractured relationship results in irreversible consequences for him and his contemporaries.
The monologue is confidently performed by David-Lloyd, who commands the space and delivers the ebbs and flows of Pistol’s emotional journey with conviction. Similar to Uff, however, there are apparent ad lib moments that feel out of place with the rest of the performance. For both actors, this issue may simply be first night jitters or the nature of the script, but without having the play text at hand, it’s hard to tell.
The expertise of this writing is the meta nature of it. Like Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Mottley shines a spotlight on supporting characters and uses their stories as a reflection of the play itself. This immerses the audience deeper into the world of Henry V, providing an even richer experience of the Shakespearean classic.
It’s always interesting to see revivals of neglected plays, and Mottley’s double bill is good an example of why it should be done more often.
Presented by: The Crooked Billets Theatre Company
Written by: Peter Mottley
Directed by: Paul Olding
Before Nell & After Agincourt plays at the Theatre at the Tabard between until the 31st August.
Further information and booking are available here.
