Trumpets and Raspberries at Barons Court Theatre

A couple of weeks ago I had not heard of playwright Dario Fo (despite his Nobel Prize in Literature) then I saw Accidental Death of an Anarchist at Lyric Hammersmith and was keen to see more of his work. The opportunity to do so came quickly and not very far away.

Barons Court Theatre was doing a production of Trumpets and Raspberries which it described as "a madcap political satire and farce about corruption and hypocrisy in high places and the plight of the common man versus the rich elites and the too-powerful corporations". There were plenty of good words in that and so I eagerly paid my £15 for a seat.

My pre-theatre dining place for this theatre is, unsurprisingly, The Curtains Up pub above the theatre and, as on my previous visit there, I was disappointed in the main meal options but going for two starters (and a pint of Young's Ordinary) worked well.

I then made my way downstairs to claim a seat in the front row.

Trumpets and Raspberries was a madcap farce from the start with a ludicrous situation and slapstick elements. At the heart of the story was two very different characters who looked the same and the confusions arising from that. I am not sure that the slapstick helped the story but it was funny so that was good.

There were also the serious political points about power and corruption which lifted the play from something just silly to something serious too. 

There was a little weakness here in that the play references the politically turbulent 1980s Italy in general and the assassination of Aldo Moro in particular, none of which meant much to me. The Accidental Deat of an Anarchist worked better because while it was about a death in Italian police custody we have those in the UK too. That said, the general class politics points were easy to understand.

The production did all sorts of bonkers things in a small place with a large cast that was exhilarating and exhausting to watch. A mention must go to Alexander HJ Smith who played the two almost identical looking characters with much aplomb. 

Trumpets and Raspberries may have been a little confusing at times and may have been a little too long but there was plenty in there to enjoy and to laugh at.