Anna Burnside reviews an uneven production.
A jester and a town crier walk into a bar and teach the audience the basics of telling jokes. That’s the outline of Nay Dhanak’s absurdist exploration of what happens when the king’s mouthpiece and paid fool lose their jobs.
Crier, the physically imposing James Peake, rings a bell and bellows out gloomy news of food shortages and tax hikes. Jester, petite Morven Blackadder, honks on a kazoo and gives Crier dirty looks.
There are ideas swirling through Cry/Laugh, but it’s hard to isolate them among the racket, the puppets, a parade of different hats and the rubbish gags.
The king, a head on a pole with familiar sausage-like fingers, is revealed to be nothing but a bunch of ribbons and a hunk of papier mache. When the pair encounter a dragon, it morphs into a puppet version of the TV investors.
Blackadder and Peake are likeable performers who scramble their way through this jungle of themes and motifs with good humour. But by the end of the allotted hour, instead of knowing what happens when a jester and a town crier walk into a bar, we are none the wiser.
Cry/Laugh performs at Oran Mor’s A Play, A Pie and A Pint until 20 June 2026. For further details, go to the production’s website.
Photo by Tommy Ga-Ken Wan.
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