GEOFFREY
WILLIAMS
Theatre Director & Playwright
It was with enormous sadness that we had to cancel the performances from 5 - 9 July 2021 which were supposed to happen at St Mary's Church Putney. We've had to do this because of unforeseen circumstances surrounding Covid-19.
27 July - 1 August 2021
11, 12, 19 & 20 August 2021
The natives of Tiny Island are restless. The powers that be are disgruntled. An abundance of greed causes Priest to depose Queen and subsequently all hell breaks loose. Leadership furiously changes hands, with each new group of leaders being worse than the last. Meanwhile, the exhausted citizens are left worrying about what really counts: who’s going to collect their bins?
With no benevolent or competent leader to be found, this traveling troupe of roughly drawn caricatures look to you, the audience, to help them find their voices as they traverse major political upheavals. Ultimately, they may even be able to shape their own future on Tiny Island.
Game of Governments is a farcical, probing commentary on the political system, inspired by the outrageous comedy of Monty Python, Black Adder and The Play That Goes Wrong. We are living through strange, ‘you-couldn’t-make-it-up’ times and what’s most terrifying is that the lunacy of it all has become commonplace.
Whatever your political beliefs, this new play offers space to re-examine how the machinery of politics works, as well as rediscover and even reconsider our own voices within it.
ABOUT THE PLAY
PLANS
We were initially going to do a development run of Game of Governments in 2020, but it was postponed due to Covid-19. It was really sad having to cancel our plans for the year, as we were originally booked into the Brighton Fringe and Wandsworth Arts Fringe festivals.
We are delighted that 2021 went mostly to plan. In spite of having to cancel our performances at the Wandsworth Fringe, our shows at Camden Fringe were very well received.
After incorporating audience responses from this trail run, we are looking forward to touring the country. We have already begun early conversations with venues about booking a tour. There is a very exciting future for Game of Governments.
WHY THE PLAY IS IMPORTANT
We’re not going to agree on everything. No group of humans will. But we have to share space on the planet and to do so we need to have ways of respecting opinions and beliefs which differ from our own. Game of Governments is a playful object lesson that however distasteful we may find politics, our lives are directly affected by it for better and worse. This play is important because it asks audiences to do the hard work of honestly and rigorously reflecting on their political beliefs. Life-altering political changes have become almost commonplace. Decisions about our lives will be made for us by politicians if we do not become informed and get involved.
It is so easy to forget that our view of the world and our politics are built on layers of assumptions and preconceptions. We are pulled into warring tribes and seldom really stop to reconsider why we think what we think, or how we came to these views. Doing so is an uncomfortable process and actually, most of us are never taught how unless you study a subject like politics or philosophy. Uninformed people are disempowered. Therein lies the capacity to be emotionally manipulated.
