Westacre Theatre's cost-of-living crisis and spiralling inflation farce Can’t Pay? Won’t Pay! opens November 17
What is the topic of the day on everyone’s lips? Well, the cost-of-living crisis and spiralling inflation is exactly what the next fast and furious farce at Westacre Theatre opening Thursday, November 17 is all about.
And to reflect the theme of the story, there are free tickets to be had – please read on to see how that might work for you…
A provocative production, Can’t Pay? Won’t Pay! presents a pertinent political play depicting the plight of the working class trying to make ends meet. Housewives feeling the full force of the economic problems are simply unable to afford the ever-rising prices in their local supermarket.
A spontaneous protest brings a totally fresh meaning to ‘self-service’ groceries. Two friends have nowhere to hide their ‘half-ton’ of ‘half-inched’ food from their husbands and the police who are about to come knocking.
To the great credit of the Nobel Prize-winning playwright Dario Fo, this really depressing background quickly blossoms into a comedy moving at breakneck speed. What happens to those liberated goods is ludicrously absurd and delivers entertaining theatre at its hilarious best.
Such is the wide appeal of this engaging satire about a consumer backlash against high prices that it has now been performed in over 35 countries. Another of Fo’s highly respected plays – Accidental Death of an Anarchist – has just completed a five-star run in the studio space at the Crucible in Sheffield.
Now all the signs are that Can’t Pay? Won’t Pay! under the direction of Westacre’s Andy Naylor and Issy Huckle will repeat that notable success. The date of opening night on November 17 coincides exactly with the Chancellor announcing the new government’s Fiscal Statement. Which will hold the greater drama – The House of Commons or the Westacre stage?
The Theatre itself is not immune to the effects of inflation. But on that one night only, you have the opportunity to book your seat entirely free-of-charge. Simply visit www.westacretheatre.com
If you enjoy yourself and wish to donate what you can afford on the night then, of course, that is fine. Otherwise, you can have a free night out and that is fine too – the police won’t come knocking.
It’s telling that this ‘off-the-shelf’ farce finds jokes in rising prices and unpaid bills. Hurtling full pelt through an ever escalating passage of ridiculous confusion, an appropriate conclusion finally emerges.
A trait of a classic work such as this is often that the specific story succeeds skilfully at communicating a more universal insight. In this case it is the impact on ordinary people.
In these taxing times, sometimes the only escape is to laugh loud and long. Let Westacre help you do that.
