The Plot theatre review: Intelligent history
With Gunpowder Plot perpetrators in apparent purgatory and Shakespeare penning their tale, this two-hander is immersive and historical but feels detached from its central characters
The Plot is heavy with the history of theatre. A meditation on the notorious gunpowder plot, it discusses the proximity of Shakespeare to the conspirators and toys with Beckett’s apocalyptic absurdism. Two of the conspirators, brothers who were both executed, find themselves in an afterlife that they assume is purgatory. To pass the time, the pair recount the details of what they thought would be a blow against the state in aid of the true religion. This duo amuse themselves by taking on the roles of their co-conspirators and the state’s agents. The king’s justice is revealed as malicious and performative, and the gloomy lighting emphasises the scaffold-like structure that looms above their heads.
The writing is skilful and erudite. Our unreliable narrators construct their hopes and downfall with a sardonic distaste for the king, but their dissection of past failed revolutions, for all its detail on the capacity of humans to torment each other in gruesome ways, remains a little too sterile and abstract. The Plot is intelligent and revels in theatre’s history, seeking to reconcile a Beckettian meaninglessness and a way to interpret the past’s use of power for the present moment.
The Plot, Summerhall, until 31 August 7.30pm; picture: Giulia Ferrando.