Tranquillity, Serenity, Calm explores conservative politics versus anarchy in a light-hearted manner, without ever choosing a side. The opposing forces are presented in the form of Francis, a civil servant with a dream of creating a Utopian city. The other is Peter Joe, an anarchist who is somewhat unsure of his cause, but who knows he must do something. The farce centres on a bomb planted in Francis’ Utopian model and, of course, trying to stop it going off once it’s been planted.
The two actors do well in to demonstrate a clear representation of opposites in this piece, but also the similarities between the two. William Uden creates a Peter Joe who is sweet and innocent, but totally lost and useless. Jimi Davson, however, outshines him as Francis. He conveyed his stress and anger well, but never failed to convey the elements of kindness and devotion in his character. He also bore a fantastically striking resemblance to Boris Johnson, as pointed out by a fellow audience member upon his entrance. I particularly enjoyed the penultimate scene in which Francis, flustered and sweaty, delivered his pitch to the audience (as political peers) in typical politician eye-contact style.
The play was relevant, funny, and is one that would benefit from a much bigger audience, so go see it!
