You Don't Need to Know That

In the spacious auditorium of the Pleasance Cavern, something is afoot. Two figures in trench coats linger ominously in the shadows as the foreboding bass notes of a Hitchcock-style soundtrack strike up. Then, the heavy stomp of agitated footsteps. Enter Beresford Jones (Mark Conway), a man soon to be catapulted into the midst of chaos when he is arrested for no apparent reason.

Inspired by Kafka’s The Trial, this play is a tongue-in-cheek comment upon a world riddled with injustice. From the outset of the play, all rhyme and reason is promptly discarded in an environment of farcical nonsense, where sheep give testimony in a court of law and eccentric characters emerge from filing cabinets.

From the Bristol based comedy theatre company Gonzo Moose, You Don’t Need to Know That is a very well staged piece of theatre. Under Abigail Anderson’s adroit direction, the cast move about the stage with expert fluency, exploiting every space available and even constructing their own sets from the filing cabinets that constitute the props. Clare Thomson and Angus Barr who together take on over ten characters—including a blind graphologist and a keyboard-playing judge—are both convincing and unequivocally entertaining.

There’s a difference between madcap farce and sheer silliness, and this show never lapses into the latter.