Well, last weekend Swindon’s latest theatre group Darkroom Theatre Company put on their rendition of Dario Fo’s Can’t Pay? Won’t Pay! for two sell-out performances at Shoebox Theatre.
Based on one of the Italian playwright’s most popular plays, Darkroom Theatre put an East End twist on this political classic set in the Italian suburbs.
Using a well-designed and versatile set the audience followed the stories of Antonia (Emily-Jane Sheppard), Margherita (Kira Sawford), Giovanni (Will Davies), Luigi (Ben Thomas), and Sergeant/Inspector/Undertaker/Giovanni’s Dad (Charlie Miles) through their working-class struggle against police corruption and rising living costs which persistently challenged their moral and political dispositions.
Whilst fighting inflation, and trying to make ends meet, the play took numerous, and ridiculous, twists and turns that perfectly balanced slap-stick and satire which left the audience in hysterics (myself included). Darkroom Theatre intended to produce a play with a strong and relevant message, and they completely succeeded.
Darkroom Theatre’s director and technician of the play, Olly Webb, said: “I chose the play because at this time of political chaos it holds its own rather well. The message is somewhat an antithesis to the usual Christmas message of ‘spend spend spend’.
“Instead it’s about resolutely not spending and instead being a good, moral person against corporations and governments that exist purely for profit.”
Watching the play reminded me of one of my favourite films Underground - granted the play wasn’t nearly as dark - by the hilarious way in which normal working people, with a political mindset, descended into situations of complete chaos. The cast executed the latter brilliantly, resulting in a kind of ‘what could possibly go wrong’ motif. You would not have guessed that this was Darkroom Theatre’s first production as a company.
Olly added: “I’m really pleased with how it went, and to say that it was lovely to see different people who work in theatre and film from in and around Swindon working together.”
Speaking of people, the play was led by five very strong performances. Okay so there were a few minor hiccups with wardrobe and stage timing, but this is in no way a discredit to Darkroom Theatre. For every slip up there was a really strong rebound of comical and witty improvisation, and as a result this only added to the complete hilarity of the characters’ stories. Again, this left the audience in hysterics (myself included).
Overall thoughts? I cannot wait to see what Darkroom Theatre Company have got coming up next!