This evening, I was once again excited to be invited to a staged reading of a play written as part of the Oxford Playwriting Course and presented in collaboration with the Old Fire Station for Oxford Platforms.
The playwriting course is run by John Retallack, director of this performance, writer of his own plays as well adaptations for theatre and radio, and award-winning director in his own right. Oxford Platforms, founded in 2022, has reached it’s tenth event with tonight’s show, and continues to be a fantastic showcase of new writing with rehearsed readings performed by talented actors.
“The Agency”, written by Nick Marston, is described as “a contemporary farce set in a boutique actor’s agency”. They (the all-knowing ‘they’) do say that you should write what you know, and that certainly seems to have been advice taken on board by Marston in the penning of his first play. Marston is a successful Literary Agent based in London, specialising in writers and directors for theatre, film and television and with an abundance of well-known and talented clients.
“The Agency” is laugh-out-loud funny from the beginning and the sold-out audience at the Old Fire Station had all been given the memo on that count; fully on board to enjoy this four-handed romp of misunderstandings, cryptic NDAs and blurry-lined relationships. Throw in a couple of Cher tracks to lead into the interval and the finale, and this particular audience member was very easily won over.
It is clear from the dialogue throughout that Marston knows his craft. With excellent one-liners and feisty monologues, the chaos of the narrative flows beautifully. We are first introduced to Helena (Holly Morgan), one of London’s top actors’ agents who has, wildly and impulsively, married Hoff (Ed Rowett), a close colleague within her boutique agency.A week into the marriage after a whirlwind work trip/holiday/honeymoon to Italy, she is already questioning her decision.Add two clients with their own complicated personal history – Josie (a somewhat terrifying Olivia Le Andersen) and Muff (Tom Moores) and it is basically bedlam. But in a fun way.Without going into the ever so complicated, confusing and hilarious detail, this play is reminiscent of a Benny Hill / Carry-On style farce, with a modern edge. The performances from all four actors were outstanding, with comedy timing and physical energy at an absolute high. Morgan’s Helena gives Victoria Coren-Mitchell vibes (or perhaps a young Emma Thompson), that super-witty intelligence masked with a kooky, forgetfulness that is completely adorable. It’s understandable why the rest of the characters are all, at some stage, under her spell.
The pace and humour of the writing made the running time of nearly two hours seem a lot shorter, and as the audience filed out to the banger that is Cher’s ‘”Believe” there was a hubbub of happy chatter in the air, a sure sign of an evening well spent.