Wed 15 Jul 26
Death runs at the Barn Theatre from Wednesday 15th to Saturday 18th July, evenings 8pm, matinee on 18th July, 2.30pm. Tickets cost £10 (adult) and £5 (child) from Barn Theatre box office on 01707 324300 or online at www.barntheatre.co.uk.
Barn Theatre, Handside Lane, Welwyn Garden City AL8 6ST
The Barn Theatre is delighted to present a Barn Youth production of Woody Allen’s one-act black comedy Death, opening on 15th July.
Published in 1975, Death was something of an experiment for Allen: famous as a filmmaker and stand-up comic, he was beginning to branch out into other kinds of writing. Nonetheless, the play exemplifies many of the most familiar features of Allen’s approach to comedy: ironic self-parody and philosophical ruminations are combined with wisecracking humour and farce.
The plot is concerned with the misadventures of Henry Kleinman (played by Jonah Cook), a diminutive and neurotic salesman whose efforts at living a quiet life are hopelessly disrupted when a local vigilante gang forces him to join a hunt for a serial killer, who has eluded capture by the police and is terrorising the city. The gang has a plan, but no-one knows the whole scheme or Kleinman’s part in it. As the action unfolds, Kleinman becomes more and more confused about what he is supposed to do, until a random encounter forces him to confront the reality of his situation.
The play has often proved popular with student theatrical companies. Director Rob Graham was keen for Barn Youth Theatre to take it on. As a short script with plenty of “heft”, macabre, scary, and funny, it is a great opportunity for a cast of young performers to show what they can do. Rob insists that the production should be taken as seriously as any other presented by the Barn, and that it will appeal to audiences of all ages.
Marshalling a cast of 11 young people between 10 and 16 years of age, Rob, along with assistant director Chelle Airey, has succeeded in getting his actors to bring their enthusiasm and exuberance onto the stage. The play offers speaking parts for up to 20 performers, so there is plenty of doubling and even trebling, giving everyone the chance to participate fully in the action...
