the strange undoing of prudencia hart review, London Welsh Centre

hart and followers

So we're in the unventilated upstairs bar of The London Welsh Centre on a night so hot the audience is offered instant refunds if they find it oppressive, and we're watching a Scottish theatre company in tweeds and furry coats, acting out a story set near Kelso during one of the coldest winters on record. And that's just part of the contradiction that is the strange undoing of prudencia hart.

The whole piece is full of surprises. It starts as an exciting academic joust - in verse - between the dour  Prudencia Hart and her nemesis, Colin Stye, about the validity of Borders poetry in comparison to football chants. It then morphs into a knock-about night of bad karaoke and finally takes us to the library in Hell where, over several millennia, the devil falls in love with Prudencia, who is excitedly  continuing her studies there.

By turns funny, unexpected, and moving, the strange undoing of prudencia hart is an interactive experience. The cast - Alasdair Macae, Annie Grace, David McKay, Melody Grove and Paul McCole - is splendid. They didn't once break sweat - though the costumes got sticky. The audience was visibly wet skinned yet they cheered, sang, made snow, enjoyed the free thimble of whisky and curling sandwiches in the interval, and applauded through three bows. That's some going in a room that was almost hotter than Hell, which may be why we had yet another twist - a delightful one - at the end.

In conclusion: Under Wis Wilson's imaginative direction the music, costumes and props morph from whatever's there. The singing is okay, the playing is okay, and that's just right for this poetic, upbeat, delight created by David Greig for The National Theatre of Scotland. Well worth a very reasonably priced ticket.

References
Royal Court Theatre, Tickets
Sarah Hemming review in the FT

London Welsh Centre,    Grays Inn Road, London WC1      This production moves to The Bussey Building, Peckham, from 5 August. Run ends,  9 August