A tale of Hamlet's revenge in a one man show
- Charles Essex
- Apr 25
- 2 min read
Dead on Cue at The Bear Pit Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, from 23 – 25 April 2025
Written and performed by Mark Carey.
Review by Charles Essex
Mark Carey brings a tale of Hamlet’s revenge in this one man show.
A West End theatre is putting on Hamlet twice, separated by 65 years. In this ingenious one man show, Mark Carey incorporates themes from Hamlet first as Berty Tindell, a faded musical hall performer who takes a minor role, and then latterly as Hamish Fife, an understudy, in this one man show. In each case, the star, whom we never see, is the same conceited actor Cedric Mason, initially a young man and a drunken sot years later, but in each case the nemesis to Mark’s character.
Set in the bowels of the theatre, epitomising the realities for bit players, Berty tells us about his frustrations as changing tastes in entertainment mean that in 1958 he has been devalued as a performer with no respect compared to his former glory. Mark deftly switches accents as he portrays the pretentious director, Cedric the northern lead actor, his agent who becomes his wife, and a former soldier buddy who is now an East End villain.
Although the first act is slow burn, Mark hints at his demise as he narrates his biography onto a reel-to-reel tape recorder for his soon-to-be born child. This astute technique allows exposition without it blatantly being so. The spartan dressing room with clever sound effects helps us to perceive Berty’s PTSD following his wartime experiences. There is a growing awareness of the failure of Berty’s marriage and that he will never get to see his child. At the interval we are left wondering what happened to Berty’s plan to (possibly) shoot his acting rival.
In Act 2 we fast forward to 2023, same dressing room, same play. Hamish has decided to write a biography of Berty. A contrived plot device but nevertheless it works well, as the pace picks up and the plot becomes much more interesting and engaging. Hamish is the son of Berty’s agent and only realises that he is also Berty’s son when he finds the tape recording.
As he listens to the recording, which we are drip fed, he plots revenge Hamlet-like on Cedric for what he sees as the injustice done to his father. Mark gives a good rendition of the drunkard Cedric, contrasting with Hamish’s anguish at having plotted his demise, which we hear in snippets on the in-house Tannoy. There is yet a further twist in the tale which I will not reveal.
The special effects and sounds are well done, with the exception of the face in the mirror. Mark shows a full range of his acting skills and deserves good audiences for this clever play.
Tickets from www.thebearpit.org.uk
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