Bath’s own Jon Thrower takes centre stage at the Rondo as he writes one of two short plays and stars in the other. His play Heavy provides the perfect support for Peter Shaffer’s farce; Black Comedy. A packed out Rondo, laughed until they cried, as first Thrower’s hilariously flawed characters brought the 19th century Office of Weights and Measures to life, and then as then as the superbly crafted characters in Shaffer’s play fumbled around in feigned darkness, trying to avoid both physical and metaphorical conflict. The two directors have experimented with unconventional techniques of theatre use, and although there are times where it hasn’t quite worked, most of the scenes are choreographed with commendable precision. Without doubt though, the charm of these two plays lies firmly with the three dimensional characters and their inevitable disputes; and thanks to some capable acting from a strong cast, the audience was rarely more than a few seconds away from the next laugh. It is a testament to the strength of Thrower’s writing that his play was not overshadowed by its more illustrious counterpart. Instead, the audience left the Rondo in discussion about which of the two plays they had liked more.
Jake Tupman