How many of us have wondered what it would be like to be a guest at our own funeral? The Woodplayers Troupe, a student group from Durham University take this idea to the next level with their astonishingly funny devised dark comedy, Drop Dead.
Will, an eccentric millionaire is holding a rehearsal for his own funeral and has gathered together an eclectic group of six to attend proceedings. His much younger wife, Penelope Anastasia (Madeleine Clark) is suspicious of the psychic Celeste (Juliette Willis), Gareth (Alexander Bittar) and his children (Noah Tucker and Tara Farquhar) have secrets to hide, and no one quite understands why the groundskeeper, Alastair (Roemer Lips) is there.
But it seems it’s all going to come down to an inheritance. Will isn’t even dead yet and already the squabbling and scheming has started. Alliances are forged and broken, while the greediest members of the group will try just about anything to get their hands on this, as yet, unobtainable fortune.
There are plenty of student theatre groups at Edinburgh Fringe, but Woodplayers Troupe stand out from the crowd with Drop Dead; the laughs come easily in this fantastically funny farce. Â The script, devised by the company and edited by Horatio Holloway, is so clever and well-constructed you believe in this fantastical story and genuinely sit wondering where on earth they are going to take the story next.
The cast have a superb chemistry, and although they all look too young for the roles their playing (this is student theatre) they all do an exceptional job of instilling their characters with unique personalities. Juliette Willis revels in the role of Celeste, while Noah Tucker is the ideal Ralph.
It is fairly short, even by Fringe standards, and at forty-five minutes we feel like we’re just getting started when it comes to an end. There are also a fair number of scenes and a little bit of music between each would have helped cover the awkward shuffles of the cast on and off stage. But all of this pales in significance when compared to the extraordinarily clever writing on display here.
We all know of the successful shows that started life as a student production at Edinburgh Fringe, and Drop Dead undoubtedly has the potential to be the next big thing. I would urge the writer and the company not to let this one go; expand out the script into a longer piece and tie up some of the plot holes, and this is the kind of comedy that would soar in a London run or on tour.
