A review of our Slapdash gig from Notes From the Underground.

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"The final group brought to life one of the best pieces of improv theatre available on the circuit. The School of Night began by reading passages from audience members’ books, before the volumes were taken from them and they had to continue, improvising in the same style.

This was funny and a mere taster for what was to come. A wholly improvised Shakespeare parody, told in iambic pentameter and rhyming couplets – all in Shakespearean English, of course. The Dwarf of Venice nodded to the Bard and Jacobean revenge tragedy dramatists, and was stuffed with just enough camp Carry On humour. It was an immense achievement, to see the players make up lines on the spot that drove the plot forward and sounded like they had been lifted from the Collected Works.

The late founder of this troupe once said, “I don’t understand the worship of writers in this country, since none of them are much good.” When you see these players make up dazzling theatre without a script, it does make you wonder whether writers will one day go out of fashion.

Readers of Notes from the Underground may not be comfortable hearing it, but the School of Night puts writers out of work. Fortunately, there are so few performers as talented as the School of Night players, so writers are probably safe for now."