REVIEW: Horse Country, Headgate Theatre Colchester ✭✭✭

Paul T Davies reviews Horse Country presented by Flying Bridge Theatre at the Headgate Theatre, Colchester.

Horse Country.

Headgate Theatre, Colchester.

15/2/21

3 Stars

Headgate Theatre Website

Presented by Flying Bridge Theatre and a Colchester Fringe Encore, the shadow of Samuel Beckett looms large over this production. It’s both a curse and a blessing that Beckett’s genius has influenced so many writers, and C J Hopkin’s script does not shy away from Waiting for Godot comparisons. Staged on an almost bare stage, Sam and Bob talk, share jokes, comment on the Horse Country (America), and break the fourth wall regularly. At least with Godot three other characters disrupt the narrative and there is the potential for change. Here, Hopkin’s script does a unique trick of moving forward on a plateau and going round in a circle at the same time.

It’s a frustrating piece of theatre, not least because the play is performed brilliantly, Daniel Llewellyn-Williams and Michael Edwards flinging the verbal gymnastics effortlessly to each other. At first, it seems as if the play is set in “Wild West” times, but it quickly becomes a narrative of American history, including recent far right attitudes. Trapped in limbo, they talk a lot about freedom whilst demonstrating that people have very little of it, of choice when there is none, and every now and an then they rub their chins and remind us we are just watching a play. The problem with that approach, for me, is that I stop watching characters and just see actors acting, which becomes a bit wearing. It’s the kind of play that looks like more fun for the actors than the audience.

There’s a nice surreal element to the piece, and there are hints that they may have murdered someone, or been involved in a car crash. It’s directed by Mark Bell, of the Play That Goes Wrong fame, but the direction is a little static here, with one moment of energy and violence really standing out. To be fair to the piece, it does linger in your brain afterwards and deserves some unpacking, e.g., is Sam representative of Uncle Sam? Is the elusive nine of diamonds the search for material excess? (It is, I think). If that’s your kind of theatre, then this is the show for you.