The Beast's Pen

With the audience seated on (very uncomfortable) makeshift benches inside a cramped bunker supposedly on the front line during World War I,  these two plays by Jamie Wilkes interweave stories from Arthurian legend and Greek tragedy with accounts of soldiers fighting in the War. “Morgana” is a rites of passage tale featuring three officers and a young woman who taunts them; it starts with absurdist comic banter, feeling rather like “Blackadder Goes Forth”, then becomes lyrical and finally tragic. “Agamemnon” is bleaker in tone throughout and, intercutting with domestic scenes from home, it tells of a mortally wounded soldier from the lower ranks who faces up to his failings as a husband. The realistic setting and close proximity of the actors contribute to making this an engrossing experience, but the production’s  key attributes are solid writing and excellent performances from Sam Donnelly, Serena Manteghi, James Marlowe and Dan Wood.