Bizarre. I’m not quite sure I ever really understood what Historical Fiction was aiming to be. Was it a comedy? Was it a social commentary? Was it a straight play? I’m not sure the playwright herself knew either. I understand that it is very difficult to write a full-length play, especially alongside doing a degree, but the whole concept of the play seemed utterly silly and pointless.

For the most part, Historical Fiction seemed like a competent junior school play: its staging was basic and the vast number of set changes and props being hauled onto stage became vaguely farcical. I felt I was stuffed into a school hall waiting for my little brother to come on stage. Squeezing 17 actors into the tiny Pembroke New Cellars took me back to those days where everyone got a part in case their parents wrote in and complained.

The production never attempted anything technically or dramatically impressive; the acting was naturalistic which jarred somewhat with the stereotypical characters. The storyline is very strange; it felt like the play had been written as a set text to explore the key themes of an AS General Studies paper. Themes such as the ethics of time travel and defining history were central to the plot. The characters discussed scientific revolutions, happiness and personal fulfilment.

There was nothing excessively bad about the play; it was just rather peculiar. The technique used for time travel was simply the characters ducking behind the desk on the stage, which had about the same dramatic impact as someone dropping a stapler. The staging was rather dodgy too; all of the scenes with characters sitting, either on chairs or on the floor, were completely missed by anyone in the audience further back than the front row.

It is wonderful that there are so many opportunities within Cambridge for new playwrights and all budding actors, and if the cast and crew enjoyed themselves, then I suppose that is something. By Victoria Ball