What makes Ten Plagues unusual as a production?

‘Plague’ is a word that immediately conjures images of the large-scale. Ten Plagues shows us the experience of such an epidemic entirely through the interiority of one man.

We hear about death and devastation in the music, but from a single tightly constrained perspective that demands total attention from the audience – helped by the song cycle form itself.

The piece is less about the plague and more about this man and his survival. To me, that’s also a compelling take on the Great Plague of London in particular, which is generally discussed in terms of its body count and gory details rather than its human impact.

What is a song cycle?

The song cycle form is another reason I think this is an unusual production, particularly in Cambridge! Out of the huge amount of theatre that’s put on every term, song cycles are very rarely staged – most people don’t know what they are, and before I read Ten Plagues I’d never heard of the term. A song cycle is a group of songs designed to be performed together in sequence, unified by a theme or plot. Another way to describe it might be as a novella in song form. Mark Ravenhill dubs it “an intense dramatic journey for single voice and piano”.

Working with such an unfamiliar form has been very challenging, especially as a first-time director, but also exciting. There are a lot of merits to it – it opens up a lot of scope for a performer.

What is your favourite line of the play?

“And pulling up your shirt
Showed me
The token
Hard and round
A silver penny
Of contagion”

What do you hope that the audience will take away?

I’d like to be able to convey that the brutality of survival comes not from any kind of action, but rather the lack of it: the turning inwards the act requires, and the tedium and selfishness that arises from it. One of the songs, ‘The Hermit’, addresses the man’s withdrawal into highest isolation. “I wear my finest clothes/Alone I feast and fast/Alone, But how like death/This solitude.” He understands it’s a Pyrrhic victory, but he’s alive. That’s all that matters by that point.

Mark Ravenhill is a name that keeps coming up in the theatre scene in Cambridge. What do you think is so attractive about his writing?

I’ve noticed the popularity of staging Ravenhill at other universities as well. I think his work is very appealing to young people. He doesn’t shy away from dark or ‘controversial’ themes and he always writes with them well. He’s also got an especially good sense of humour, always sharp, and sometimes acid – even in Ten Plagues. That’s an attractive combination for young adults interested in theatre to cut their teeth on.

Ten Plagues will be performed from Thursday 11th Feb – Saturday 13th Feb 2016 at 8pm.