Review: WHEN THE FUN STOPS, TRY AGAIN?, Camden People’s Theatre
Camden People’s Theatre has long been a home for experimental theatre, and When the Fun Stops, Try Again? seems right at home in its space. The piece (it’s not quite a play) centres around gambling: its symptoms, its rewards, and how to spot it in places one might not think to look. The stage is occupied exclusively by members of the audience, volunteering to select numbers at random that correspond to either short scripts to be read, games of chance to be played, or, in one literally show-stopping instance, an abrupt end to the evening’s performance.
Nathan Charles, the creator, has devised an experience that is structured intricately, and yet delivered simplistically. He is absent and invisible, and the audience receives instructions via prompts from a projector. This is a novel idea, however it relies on the audience’s willingness to get up and gamble, and their aptitude in sight-reading scripts.
Each script is short and direct, with gambling as the central theme, and the selection at press night was comprehensive, raising some interesting questions: is owning a Club Card gambling? What about Deal or No Deal? Do children being allowed in arcades expose them to the addictive thrill at a formative age? Although it tackles many aspects of the subject, the scripted section doesn’t quite land a punch and, all in all, feels more anecdotal than a production with something to say about our current gambling culture.
The interactive element is front-and-centre, bringing the audience together in a way that feels effectively communal and in places very tense, indeed quite like waiting for lottery numbers. The set is a mess of tickets, number balls and prizes. The haphazard design works to swallow the participant into the stage, however perhaps could have been more coherent and deliberate to elevate the tone of the experience. There are little to no lighting changes, and the sound effects, though amusing, could have been deployed more confidently.
The show ends abruptly, as it pretty much promises to from the start: an audience member reads out the doomed number, and the screen flashes with an “X”. House lights up, and that’s your lot! It’s an inventive way of ending a show, a thematically appropriate Sword of Damocles that has everyone laughing and leaving satisfied, despite the bathos.
When the Fun Stops, Try Again? is a quirky and engaging way to spend an evening, an effective yet subdued facsimile of the subject matter. You could win the price of your ticket back, or be immediately ejected from the theatre, and the delight is in taking the risk in an environment tailored to invite reflection on the prominence of gambling, but not insist upon it.
Unique, exciting and encouraging of self-examination.
