22nd March Not the only idiot in the village


And no before you ask I am not refering to Boris Johnson's performance this afternoon in front of the Privilages Committee, a cross-party group charged with investigating MPs for contempt of Parliament and breaches of parliamentary privilege rules. Or as is the case today, simply confirming that Johnson is a cockwomble.

Rather I am referring to the theatrical adventure I went to see at the Playhouse last night entitled Village Idiot. Now if there was an award for the play that contacined the most 4 letter words during its performance then this would surely win. Advertised as a play could could very well offend everyone, by the end of the 2hr 30min performance, the very strong language and themes relating to class, race, ethnicity, sexuality, sex, gender identity and disability, certainly could have offended most of the people there but perhaps surprisingly didn't. Or maybe like me they had simply given up trying to keep score of the number of times the word, f%&k, t%$t or c*&t were used .

Estensibly a drama about the effects the proposed HS2 line would have on a sleepy village of Syresham, South Northamptonshire, directly in its path and the assorted villagers living there, whilst being very blunt in its use of language it also made the audience think about a whole host of topics, often in a way that was laugh out loud funny, or at least for the couple sat behind me. 

It also featured at least one actor from the Ramps on the Moon theatre company whose aim is to incorporate those with disability and deafness in their productions. As it was, Faye Wiggan, who played Debbie, often stole the show with her butter wouldn't melt face and potty mouth that would have put Adele to shame

I think I came out of it feeling rather bemused by the whole affair. It was uncomfortable at times, unsettling at others. Some moments made me laugh out loud, whilst other caused me to ponder. Village Idiot will certainly not be everyone's cup of tea but you can't say you weren't warned beforehand


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