Review: Two Planks and a Passion ***

There’s a reason why Anthony Minghella’s play hasn’t been revived much since it was first performed almost 30 years ago.

For a start it requires a cast of 30-plus, an investment not many theatres are prepared to make, and staging this glimpse behind the scenes of a performance of medieval Mystery Plays would give even the most experienced director sleepless nights.

Still, York Theatre Royal has grand ambitions this season. The venue has been transformed in the round, an ensemble cast has been brought in and, with the city staging its own Mystery Plays next year, Minghella’s play seemed an obvious choice.

So we find ourselves back in the 1400s in the build-up to the annual performance of the religious plays as the various town guilds try to find ways of cutting costs, while still outdoing their professional rivals. When York gets an unexpected royal visit, the best-laid plans are torn up as the city’s leaders and their wives try to buy, grovel and flatter their way into the king and queen’s affections.

While this is an early work from the late Minghella, his talent for sparky dialogue is much in evidence as the guild try to convince one of their number that once again he is perfect for the role of Mary.

For the most part the production is a success, largely down to a superb community cast who just about hold their own alongside the three professional actors as the play’s royal party.

There are a few fluffed lines and occassionally a lack of projection, but Rebecca Beattie is outstanding as Kathryn, the social climbing wife to Maurice Crichton’s penny-pinching Geoffrey.

Yet the production is not without problems. Running to two-and-a-half hours, excluding the interval, it needed someone to take the scissors to Minghella’s script. Overlong and lacking in pace, someone should have realised that sometimes, less is definitely more.

To July 16.