Run At It Laughing | Wilton's Music Hall
- Oviya Thirumalai (she/her)
- May 11
- 4 min read
Run At It Laughing is a collection of 10 comedy plays, written and directed by Mark Ravenhill and produced by Run At It Shouting, to raise money for The Nia Project (a service to help end violence against women and girls) and to create a platform for emerging performers.
The plays themselves were performed as rehearsed readings, with scripts in hand. The 10 plays were performed over a two day "marathon" of five plays each, yet each play stood alone with no overlapping stories. Based on improvised Italian plays from the 1600s, Ravenhill takes the recorded and historic summaries of these plays, whilst giving them new life with his own writing. The lewd humour and farce-like situations, absurd plotlines and comedic caricature-like characters lend a solid foundation for Ravenhill's witty dialogue.

The first play (Run at It Laughing: Horny) starts the marathon off strong with a brash and rude play that is lives up to its title. The play follows several plots that interweave with each other, causing chaos in one another's lives, yet ultimately ends happily.
Good friends Spavento (Omar Aga) and Flavio (Olsen Elezi) both realise that they each carry unrequited feelings for the other's sister, Isabella (Mariella Dickhoff) and Flaminia (Rebecca Snook) respectively. However, each brother is protective, considering a friend unworthy and scheming to sabotage any potential relationship whilst also nervously trying to declare their own love. Flavio's servant Arlecchina (Ting Fung) exists in her own world, spending most of the play trying to serve Flavio his duck egg Omelette. Flaminia, a massive bookworm, is unmoved and unbothered by men, and remains oblivious. Isabella, a recent widow, is kept preoccupied by her annoying neighbours Franeschina (Fiona Spreadborough) and Burratino (Kasper Faulkner).
Franeschina is determined to have sex with her husband, desperately wanting a child, yet this pressure renders Burratino unable and unwilling to perform, much to his utter humiliation. Burratino's attention are further distracted by the thieving sex workers, Pasquella (Kay Boggett) and her daughter Olivetta (Anna Tammela) currently residing at his inn. Rounding off the ensemble piece are old rich and protective of his virtue, Pantalone (Gary Lammin), and his servant Pedrolina (Cheryl Storer), whose intelligence and quiet observation skills creates interwoven scenes as she sets out to earn money, and solve everyone's problems.

Ravenhill's writing boasts of brilliance throughout the piece; taking a rather complex layering and weaving of storylines and characters and creating an easy to follow play. The writing hinges upon the time period of the play, leaning into older and outdated notions, yet keeping it modern and relevant with the characters challenging these notions. Despite being obvious archetypes, Ravenhill's writing provides them life and depth outside of their larger role, allowing each character to feel alive. It's an impressive and massive undertaking, to not only capture the energy and spirit of an Improvised Farce, but to make it just as funny for audiences in a rehearsed readings.
The cast also lean into this, choosing to exaggerate their performances, even going as far as to use accents and accessories to make the characters their own. The cast are each wildly committed to their roles, with energetic and convincing performances. The characters are each given equal weightage in the script, creating a wonderful ensemble piece. Likewise, the cast are wonderful as a whole, although there were a few standouts.
Aga's reluctance to let go of his rigid masculinity to appease Isabella is a highly entertaining journey as he faces an entirely new lifestyle. Aga brings a dramatic diva cheer to his character, forever making audiences splutter with laughter. Snook's Flaminia is a delightful surprise as a major bookworm. With literary romantic hero to compete with in terms of words, and a deep appreciation for good literature, Flaminia's own happiness. Fiona's bolden demands for sex with her husband, although a problematic storyline, the performance itself was strong and joyful.

Storer as Pedrolina delivers another strong performance, absolutely nailing the physical comedy. However, unsurprisingly it is Fung's Arlecchina that stands out the most. Tucked away between scene transitions, her quest to procure the coveted duck eggs, make an omelette and serve it to her lord. On the way, Arlecchina questions the importance of becoming a goat. Quite literally.
The show is the sort of mayhem one could hope and expect to see in a short improvised play. Although presented as rehearsed readings, the script is so lively, it lends a large helping hand to imagining a fully staged productions. A wonderful revisit to traditional comedy theatre, Run At It Laughing, with Mark Ravenhill at the helm, promises a good and amusing time to be had. Audiences will be treated to laughter every few minutes, allowing them to partake in a silly, filthy show.
★★★★☆ (4*)
Gifted tickets in return for an honest review | Photography by Bec Austin
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