"The Prince" by Abigail Thorn.
Wonderfully timed to coincide with Pride this week in Nottingham, "The Prince" is a wonderfully modern twist on Shakespeare's characters and plays where transgender characters in his plays realise that they are trapped in their performance and try to escape. Jen and Sam, two trans women, are trapped in a multiverse of Shakespeare's complete works.
On their quest to discover the doorway back to reality they encounter Henry 'Hotspur' Percy, who they recognize as also being trans. Jen and Sam must decide; do they risk losing their way home to help someone who might be like them – someone who does not yet know who they truly are?
Abigail Thorn's story weaves its' way through "Henry IV Part One", "Hamlet" and several others of the Bard's works, providing fun for the audience whether they be Shakespeare scholars or verse virgins. With sword fighting, lesbianism, and disappointed parents, this play is the perfect end to the Lace Market Theatre's current season.
Hotspur, the warrior, is played by Esther Warren. Esther is no stranger to Shakespeare away from the Lace Market Theatre, and it's good to see Esther on stage. A powerful and commanding performance, and Esther knows how to project, probably due to her acting outside with the Nottingham Shakespeare Company.
Lady Kate is played by Maureen Nwabueze. She is shown as the wife of Hotspur with Lady Kate's character evolving to show the importance of women at this particular stage of Shakespeare's story telling. I really enjoyed the change from a loving wife who did everything that her husband bade her, to the strong woman who started to break with Shakespearian convention. The section where Kate learns the word "lesbian" is unexpectedly humorous. Maureen is a new name to me but is a fantastic, and hypnotic actor with a gentle stage presence; one I hope we'll see on stage locally more often.
Sam is played by Ami Veera, another new name and another fantastic find - where have all these new names in theatre been hiding? Sam, who in the real world is a care home worker, wiping noses and bums. She has been trapped in this Shakespearian multiverse for, what the audience can imagine being a while, but has more of a hold on the situation than Jess, well to start with. With the help of a map, which is in a box, both Sam and Jess can navigate their way through to the portal in this crazy Shakespeare world of play, but when something goes wrong, they slip down the plays list, and further away from getting back to their real world.
Jess Hall plays Jen, who when she realises that she is trapped in the world of Shakespeare's "Henry IV" declares "I bloody hate Shakespeare". A wonderfully hilarious character and the pairing of Sam and Jen are beautifully matched and these two actors create a brilliantly fun chemistry. It's the physical connection between Jen and Hotspur that provides the virtual injection of the "real world" into them, and that is visually portrayed by some imaginative lighting effects, almost like a lightning bolt that goes through the body of the characters. Jess also gets a lot of the comedy lines plus some fun, comic, banter like modernisms, contrasting with the Shakespeare rhythms and blank verse.
Bernard Whelan, who I last saw at the start of the year in "Alys Always", doubles as Northumberland / King Henry IV. There's some nice contrasts between the straight Shakespeare delivery and some natural comic line deliveries.
Prince Hal is played by Nathan Hackett. The Prince is shown engaging in similar behaviors as in the original Shakespeare play – drinking, partying and neglecting his Princely duties – but in this play, his sexuality is a key aspect. The play also presents him as someone who is trying to live up to the expectations of his father and the court, while also grappling with his true identity. Nathan is another new name on the local acting stage but shows a flair for comedy, and some excellent combat and fight stagecraft, and those swords did not sound as if they were lightweight either.
The Earl of Worcester is played by David Dunford, who I've had the pleasure of seeing him act in and direct some classic pieces of theatre at the Lace Market. As with Bernard, it's a nice change to see him play comedy, blended with the serious Shakespeare pieces and characters.
Sam Marshall plays Douglas, the Scottish rebel leader in Henry IV, Part 1. Sam is yet another new name to me and I don't know if Sam is Scottish, but that accent was excellent. Often a Scots accent can go over the top but Sam's has a really soft Edinburgh-esque lilt about it and is completely consistent throughout.
I will say that nothing has been taken over the top or pushed too far. The play highlights transgender people, camp and lesbianism, but none of these subjects have gone over the top and are all completely believable. The characters do not have to be OTT to bring the comedy out because the script itself is wonderfully funny and the mix of modern-day spiel and Shakespeare's iambic pentameter develop their own humour.
Directed by Laurie Owen and Micah Darmola. This pair have created a brilliant and fun piece of theatre, and their experience with directing comedy and Shakespeare melt together deliciously. They have bought together a wonderful cast, along with the Casting Advisors Chris Collins and Lesley Brown, and it's great to see that they have also not just used the tried and tested actors, but have introduced several fresh faces into the cast and to the Lace Market Theatre stage.
Set Design is by Guy Evans with Set Design Consultant Alex Hopkin-Spratt. Simple set designs often work best at the Lace Market Theatre and this set works perfectly. There's a cavalcade of lined centre stage which cleverly is drawn open to reveal the images that are in the map box that Sam has, showing the directions that they have to travel to escape.
Lighting Design is by Nick Gale. I touched on the lighting effects earlier and this really comes into play with the transfer of energy from Jen to Hotspur, and from Hotspur to Lady Kate and the other characters. I won't give away what those effects are but it certainly keeps the audience on their toes!
Sound Designer is Matthew Allcock and, as always, the sound effects are perfectly timed. The original music that is heard in the play is by Rory Williams.
Stage Managed skilfully by Sammy Whitworth who managed to keep the flow of the play smooth.
The props for this production are managed by Ali Lit and Benji Ingali, and there are quite a few to manage. From the glasses for the toasts, trays and plastic pop bottles to the swords, which as I've already stated look suitably weighty, and the smaller knives and weapons.
With this kind of production I already had an idea that the costumes would be apt and classy, and I was not disappointed, and then you find out that Max Bromley is the man behind sorting out the costumes, you can guarantee that they will be the best available. Dylan Brown is also responsible for this area of the production along with Max. Just take a look at the photos for proof of that.
The fight choreography and weaponry is thanks to John Buckeridge. Nathan, Sam and Esther do not hold back with the stage combat and that in itself straight away causes electricity in the air for this play as you hear the heavy clashes of metal on metal.
Opening night on Monday was sold out, which is a lovely sight. I can also say that I have never heard such waves of laughter from a Lace Market Theatre audience as huge as the one on Monday night.
You may have to take some time to start to understand parts of this play, due to the characters being unaware that they were imprisoned within the boundaries of the play and their characters. Jen depicts this perfectly at the start when she is convinced that she is actually Portia. But it's like having a jigsaw puzzle of baked beans. You are given all the pieces and slowly you start to spot where all the pieces fit and by the end you have the satisfaction of having everything where it should be and a complete picture.
It's a production like I have never seen before, It has some great characters, played by a cast of amazing actors, combining some of the best known lines from the Bard with some brilliantly funny modern day colloquialisms, all with a lovely closing showing that all's well that ends well. Shakespeare has never been so much fun.
"The Prince" is at the Nottingham Lace Market Theatre until Saturday 26 July. Don't miss it if you can help it.
Photography by Grace Eden Photography.