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Camden Fringe
The sorry state of modern Britain is mocked in this biting political satire about four friends who get into trouble when they leave Blighty to set up their own island nation.Summary
Rating
Good
Bogging-off from Blighty opens with a montage of soundbites showing the turmoil of the last ten years of British politics, which nicely sets the scene for a story that satirises the state of the nation. Later one character powerfully bemoans the economic crises, plagues and loss of loved ones that all Brits have lived through, asking: Surely there must be a way out of this?
When faced with the bleak state of life in Britain, four recent graduates escape to a newly discovered island to start their own country of New Brit-On-Sea. A viral social media video leads to an influx of citizens for the new nation, but the four friends find that running a country is harder than they expected, and seriously tests their friendship.
There is a lot of rich political satire to be enjoyed as we witness the founding parents of New Brit-On-Sea slide into authoritarianism. It is both funny and disturbing, as good satire should be, to watch the friends recreate everything they tried to escape, such as setting up an island “membership scheme” to pay for basic services and then discovering this is taxation.
The irony becomes darker and more absurd as the problems increase, leading to the creation of stronger borders, a security apparatus, passports and ultimately rigging an election. It is both hilarious and terrifying to watch ordinary people decry their own citizens for not being sensible enough to know what is best for them and needing the firm hand of a strong leader.
The satire is undermined though by insufficient character development in the opening scene. It is a tightly written, one hour comic play, but understanding the values of the characters would make the humour sharper when they ultimately re-create what they are rebelling against, be it heavy handed policing, taxation or inequality.
There is effective satire in the characters’ misery when faced with low wages, high rents, the rising cost of living and lack of jobs, but they are only rebelling against the general rubbishness of contemporary Britain. The humour does not lampoon one political target that is more specific than the general state of the country.
The story builds to a dramatic conclusion that delivers appropriate pathos for the characters. The absurdity does not increase beyond a group of flatmates running a nation and would be more effective by reaching for greater heights of ridiculousness, bringing the comedic tension of the ending in line with the drama.
The script is witty with plenty of good one-liners and great character jokes. It’s delivered with strong comedic performances from the whole cast who fully embraced the silliness of their ordinary characters running a tiny nation. Calum Banks especially brings a hilarious madcap energy to the role of Ben, the group’s leader.
Staging, sound effects and lighting are effectively used to heighten the drama and to convey the sense of a larger crowd on the island, especially in the final moments when all the tensions are brought to a climax.
Bogging-off from Blighty is a solid satire that could benefit from having something more specific to say. Although, I did enjoy the irony of modern Britain being so unbearably managed that four university graduates would rather decamp to a rain-soaked rock. The humour satirises the current sorry state of British politics with good jokes. Whilst enjoyable, it does leave me wanting more from it, both in terms of politics and humour.
Performed by: Calum Banks, Poppy Taplin, Euan Hyden and Kristian Palmeholt-Letchumanan
Written and directed by Ciarán Cross
Bogging-off from Blighty has completed its run at Camden Fringe.
You can read more about this show in our recent interview here.
