Inspired by the works and life of post-war American poet and novelist Charles Bukowski, Ordinary Madness digs into the depravity of urban life and American society in the 1950s-1970s.
Drawing from Bukowski’s focus on working-class life and telling the stories of the “insignificant people”, through six interconnected short stories, Art Theatre London explore themes of superficial society, crime, failing healthcare and loneliness in a big city. Performed by a cast of five multi-rolling actors and accompanied by a 1950s-1970s soundtrack, each story captures the dark humour, provocative energy and sexual imagery of Bukowski’s prose with a satirical contemporary twist. Drawing parallels with modern-day London, Ordinary Madness paints a picture the lives of working-class people in post-war American society.
Director Anya Viller said, “Full of cynicism, irony and humour, the performance suggests that we are all just people in the end. Being weak but pretending to be strong is generally very human. And these insignificant characters, in a sense, oppose the “American Dream” and our modern obsession with success. Because…it’s okay to be an ordinary person. Everyone has the right to cut themselves while shaving.”
Art Theatre London are an international ensemble company based in London that create contemporary theatre and often draw from literature, adapting it for a modern audience. Alongside their original production Ordinary Madness, they previously performed their ★★★★★ (A Youngish Perspective) production of Anton Chekov’s The Lady with the Dog at The Playground Theatre in February 2024.
Ordinary Madness is at Riverside Studios, 8 Feb – 9 March 2025
