The Exquisite Corpse

Synopsis

Whilst elves mend the shoes of a sleeping girl, a man falls to his knees in a busy street and a dog talks to his therapist about his unhappy childhood... The Exquisite Corpse is a theatrical version of the Surrealist game 'consequences'. Each scene was written in isolation, and the whole shape of the play is unknown until the parts come together. You (the audience) shuffle those parts around at every performance, putting them into a new order, and a lyrically surreal story unfolds before your eyes in its own unique version; one of six million possible shows.

Our Review:

11 May 2009

The shadowy railway arches of the Southwark Playhouse provide a setting full of magical possibility for The Exquisite Corpse, a theatrical game of Consequences. True/Fiction Theatre have brought together five Welsh playwrights (Branwen Davies, Angharad Devonald, Tracy Harris, Kit Lambert and Othniel Smith) to construct scenes written in isolation from one another, but inspired by paintings, some of which were given to more than one writer.  

Prior to its commencement, the audience are given the opportunity to shuffle the play’s sixteen scenes in order to produce a unique production each night. The idea is intriguing and many of the scenes are interesting and fun but this show always feels experimental without the wit to be all-consuming or compelling.

That said, whilst some of the scenes are almost frustratingly brief, there are enough hints of conspiratorial character and plot lineage, albeit accidental, to leave one wondering whether perhap...

Read more of the review

Latest User Review

No reviews yet

Click here to add your review