The Art of Coarse Acting

A quartet of short comedies adapted from the book of the same name. Written by British journalist Michael Green in 1964, and based on his own experiences in amateur theatre, each play explores the pitfalls that companies very often fall into when trying to put on a serious production.

Green describes a coarse actor as one 'who can remember his lines, but not the order in which they come. An amateur. One who performs in Church Halls. Often the scenery will fall down. Sometimes the Church Hall may fall down. Invariably his tights will fall down. His aim is to upstage the rest of the cast. His hope is to be dead by Act II so that he can spend the rest of his time in the bar. His problems? Everyone else connected with the production.'

In The Art of Coarse Acting every director's nightmare becomes a reality; from hazardous set to maverick actors. Even the plays themselves are perfect examples of the desperate pieces put on by amateur theatre groups. From a valiant attempt to cut a 695 page epic into 10 minutes, to a desperately woeful tale of love, loss and longing and more loss. An avant-garde surrealist exploration suited only to the truly ambitious and, for our lovers of more highbrow classics, a Shakespearean tragedy.