Performances of Prudencia have sold out across Scotland, the UK and internationally, so pull up a chair and whet your whistle for an incredibly inventive and entertaining piece of anarchic theatre, live music and strange goings-on…
One wintry morning Prudencia Hart, an uptight academic, sets off to attend a conference in Kelso in the Scottish Borders. As the snow begins to fall, little does she know who or what awaits her there. Inspired by the border ballads - and delivered in a riotous romp of rhyming couplets, devilish encounters and wild karaoke - Prudencia’s dream-like journey of self-discovery unfolds among and around the audience.
With a rollicking text by David Greig, barnstorming live music; and a ‘terrific, inventive sense of fun…' (The Scotsman), The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart is the lock-in to end all lock-ins.
National Theatre of Scotland cannot be held responsible in the event of any member of the audience losing their head, their heart or their very self during the course of the performance. Read more …
In true ballad fashion, Greig sets all this in verse. Using the kind of cheeky rhyming that can match "plectrum" with "autistic spectrum", he subverts the traditional poetic form with references to Facebook, Asda and bed-and-breakfast jigsaws. This scores many a laugh in Wils Wilson's rough-and-ready production for the National Theatre of Scotland, which is touring the bar-rooms of Scotland for added authenticity, wild musical outbursts and all. It also parodies the modern-day folk fan who goes in search of a genuine expression of community identity and finds only Katy Perry karaoke.
By turns one of the most rambunctiously life-affirming and touchingly beautiful reinventions of its subject.
While one or two of the performances are a little rough-edged and the story itself rather anti-climactic, but these gripes fade to insignificance against the overall experience of seeing this dynamic, amusing romp in an authentic pub setting.
It gets right to the heart of Scots’ schizophrenic relationship with their own culture which they (I speak as an incomer of some 25 years) love and hate, identify with and deny, in equal measure, often all in the same sentence.
A spot-on send-up ... the mockery is merciless but hugely affectionate.
If you are looking for a touching, vivacious and unique theatre experience, that will keep you laughing and keep you guessing: it is all here. Do not miss this play.
The cleverness of David Greig's text and the constant inventiveness of Wils Wilson's staging are matched by the unflagging energy and infectious high spirits of the cast, holding the audience happily in the devil's thrall right through to a rousing and appropriately pop culture-flavoured finish.
This is an enjoyable piece of theatre and the kind of performance that would make its audience feel like it was Friday night, even if watched at 11am on a Monday morning.
It is a radical, self- referential raucous lock-in that is full of chaos, surprises and unadulterated mentalness, compounding the very Scottish relationship with the dark side in a style that chimes with the 21st century.
This is a highly successful production whose run should go on as long as possible.
Like A Christmas Carol, Greig’s play covers the past, present and future, asking us to consider along with Prudencia the implications of them all.
This play both entertains superbly and teaches the audience that trusting a mysterious stranger may be your undoing, but it may well be your salvation.
The fascinating tale of the folk-song collector
The fascinating tale of the folk-song collector
Devilish time in the pub
Prudencia Hart to go on year-long tour