Theatre Uncut

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Early in Neil LaBute’s new short, Pick One, the whole concept of this latest Theatre Uncut run suddenly looks fatally flawed. The actor Garry Beadle stares at his rapidly-learned script, apparently unsure what to say next, but thankfully that lengthy rumination turns out to be a crucial part of the plot. Such is life on the theatrical edge.

Theatre Uncut was founded in 2010 as a stage-based response to government austerity measures, although their system has now tightened up too, with playwrights allowed only five days to create new works. “Do we all get more right wing in hard times?” is this year’s question, hence LaBute's sinister trio, conspiring to rid the US of an entire race. An intriguing twist occurred after his script was submitted, the company’s artistic directors casting a black actor, Beadle, as the white right-winger who ultimately condemns African Americans. It lightens the tone considerably.

More radical is Davey Anderson’s True or False, which ponders Scottish independence via a Milgram-style electric-shock experiment and volunteer, with hair-raising consequences. The Wing by Uncut veteran Clara Brennan is less successful, her penchant for monologues evident in the unrealistic—if diverting—dialogue between a xenophobic father and idealistic daughter. And Bristol’s Wardrobe Ensemble take a wonderfully visual approach to liberal dinner-party angst, in an unnamed piece inspired by New York company TEAM.

Whatever your politics, Theatre Uncut is a courageous, often thrilling experiment, with lasting value: all of these plays will be available for rights-free performance throughout November.