Twenty years ago, under the stewardship of Ken Campbell, ‘The School of Night’ was formed and made its first appearance at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. It is interesting to note that the original members of the Elizabethan version of The School of Night, were such luminaries as Sir Walter Raleigh, Thomas Harriot, Christopher Marlowe et al, who may very well have frequented the original Globe Theatre, which was built in 1599, which makes The School’s anniversary feel significant. It is thought that the name ‘The School of Night’ came from a line in Shakespeare’s play ‘Love’s Labour’s Lost,’ but there were other possibilities for the original name of this group of radical freethinkers. These include ‘The School of Atheism,’ and the ‘Durham House Set’ named after Sir Walter Raleigh’s house, but ‘The School of Night’ carries with it an air of mystery and intrigue. This evening the fraters were Joseph Chance, Alan Cox, Dylan Emery, and Oliver Senton.
Moving on from the history lesson, let us see what this group of mystical extemporizers bring to the world of improv. We have seen a growing number of Shakespeare improvisation troupes in recent years, but there is no-one that quite compares to ‘The School of Night’ for their diversity, performance in iambic pentameter including Chaucer’s medieval version, their knowledge of a wide range of playwrights, and their ability to do all of these things whilst simply making their audience laugh.
As the headlining show of the day, they were in prime position in the evening slot, and began by opening up their bardic tap, and warmed the audience up by requesting a choice of books from them. I will explain the procedure, one of the members began reading at a pre-chosen page, then the book was taken away and they continued the story with improvisation, the book was then handed back, and a few further lines read from the actual book for completeness.
The main thread of the evening was to improvise a Shakespeare play which could be a tragedy, comedy, romance, or history play, and the audience selected a romance called ‘Romulus and Remus or The Suckling Dwarf,’ which with the benefit of hindsight had no hint of romance in the title. Audience participation is encouraged in some sections of the show, and ‘wounded messenger with news of battle’ is one of those sections where a few members of the audience take part, improvising a battle injury where overacting is encouraged!
Now, back to the story – King Romulus is married to Queen Brigitta who he believes has a fling with their stable-hand. The Queen flees to a nunnery, but thirty years later is found by King Romulus, who then decides to become a monk. All of this, and then King Romulus being reunited with his brother, who will now run the country. During the devising of this play, the players requested from the audience, the name of three playwrights which were John Godber, Tennessee Williams, and W B Yeats. The fraters then had to alter the dynamic of the play to fit the style of the playwright, and this was done with incredible knowledge of three vastly different writers, and the frater’s Yorkshire humour was hysterical!
The icing on the cake was the fourteen-line sonnet which rounded off the evening, superbly delivered and their work was finished, and their improvised bardic quills could rest.
The only comment that I would make, is that for an audience with a mixed level of understanding of speech delivered in Shakespeare’s language, and with games intermingled with the storytelling, more updates of the ‘story so far’ would have been helpful. It is so easy to lose the thread when the story is being interrupted with games and procedures, and it would enhance the enjoyment and appreciation of the tale in development.
‘The School of Night’ offer something unique, clever, witty, and skillful beyond any other improv company that I have witnessed so far. If you have the opportunity to see them you will not be disappointed, for there is no-one else quite like them.
Even though the festival is over, you will be able to find out further details of upcoming shows, previews, reviews, and about the companies involved in the festival by going to – https://www.liverpoolimprovfestival.com/
For further information about ‘The School of Night’ go to – https://www.theschoolofnight.com/
Reviewed: Caroline Worswick
Reviewed: 26th April 2025
North West End UK Rating: