Bawdy, farcical and humane, Run At It Laughing is an epic celebration of comedy and our shared humanity.
Based on scenarios first published in Italy in 1611, Run At It Laughing is a cycle of 10 90-minute new comedies presented as rehearsed readings over two days. Each play can be enjoyed by itself or as part of the sequence.
Playwright Mark Ravenhill – Shopping and F-ing and The Cane (Royal Court), Mother Clap’s Molly House and Citizenship (National Theatre), Ben and Imo (Royal Shakespeare Company) – has written all 10 new plays and directs over 80 actors, as part of Run At It SHOUTING’s professional actor development.
Profits from this event will be donated to the Nia Project, which delivers cutting edge services to end violence against women and children.
He said today: “During the workshops, one of the actors said: ‘It’s a bit like a Carry On film written by Shakespeare’. That’s the sweet spot I’m aiming for, Matron!”
“In 1610, the Italian actor and impresario Flaminio Scala published a huge collection of scenarios for comic plays, drawing on his experience as a performer in the Commedia dell’arte from the 1580s onwards. In 1611, after a long career in the theatre, he published a volume of 50 full-length plays. There were no written scenes or dialogues in the volume. Simply a four page outline for each of the plays. The plays had been improvised, using the scenarios, in the 1570s and 1580s by an Italian troupe. These were the first fully professional actors in Europe and the first to include women as equal members of the company. One of these female actors, Isabella Andreini, became the most famous performer of her day. The company played an annual season in Paris, where they were seen by an international audience. These 50 plays, and Scala’s published scenarios, formed the foundation of much of the theatre that followed. Elements of plot and character appear in Shakespeare, in his Spanish contemporary Lope de Vega and in Moliere. But, being improvised, the influence of these plays has mostly been forgotten. Scala’s scenario’s became the ‘pattern book’ for the next generation of playwrights. The majority of the plays outlined are comedies. They are sexually frank, with the women given as much agency as the men. They are socially acute, depicting the newly rich mixing with the urban poor and new migrants from the countryside. They are grounded in money, sex and the body. Above all they are generous: it’s a world in which we are all fools and we all need to find a way to get along.
“My aim has not been to make a historical reconstruction. I was drawn to the scenarios’ generosity of spirit and their comic energy. It seemed to me to be something which we need in these divisive times. My aim has been to write plays that allow contemporary audiences to laugh and to celebrate our shared humanity.
“Each of the plays puts the same characters in different situations. While it’s enjoyable to see one of these plays, there’s a cumulative pleasure in seeing several. Or even 10 of them. As you get to know the characters, there’s an extra level of comedy and recognition. Much as there is with contemporary sitcom. This is why I’ve decided to present a marathon rehearsed reading of the plays over the two days of May 9/10 at Wilton’s Music Hall. A total of 15 hours of new comic writing, involving dozens of actors who’ve been involved in the workshops.”
