Compositor E London Reviews and Tickets

87%

(1 Rating)

Positive

100%

Mixed

Negative

Members say

Must see, Absorbing, Ambitious, Clever, Great staging

About the Show

Charlie Dupré's celebration of the power of words and exploration of who writes and re-writes history.

17-year-old John is an apprentice typesetter who is about to get to work on a potentially historic new commission – the first version of the complete works of Shakespeare. As John begins to work on the manuscript of Macbeth, his own dark past begins to weave its way into Shakespeare's narrative. But as the ink sets, he begins questioning who the storytellers really are…

Artistic Director of the Omnibus Theatre, Marie McCarthy, directs this production.

Show-Score Member Reviews (1)

Must see, Great staging, Clever, Ambitious, Absorbing

See it if You want to see a fringe show that covers a really interesting piece of history

Don't see it if you dont like wordy plays

Critic Reviews (5)

“Charlie Dupré’s Bruntwood prize longlisted play asks thoughtful questions about who gets to shape history, but lacks a level of intrigue and emotional depth to address them fully”
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“Tonally the piece was inconsistent, it felt, both with language and character development decisions. The script could do with some tightening too...With six cast members and decent technical elements, plus a fantastic and initially engaging plot, ‘Compositor E’ feels like a bit of a missed opportunity.”
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“The story gets bogged down in workplace politics in a couple of protracted scenes, and John’s final monologue is a ramble of jargon that overcomplicates what could be powerful musing on the significance of words and language. Still, Dupré’s play raises interesting questions about how many fingerprints are really left behind on the plays we know and admire today.”
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“ ‘Compositor E’ offers an insightful reflection on the empowerment these plays can offer us all, and a satisfying call to arms, framed in Jaggard’s repeated instruction to take them in with the eyes but then act on them with the hands.”
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“The writing of ’Compositor E’ is, at times, sublime, and the blending of poetry and drama is to be highly commended in a production that grapples with what it means to convey meaning through literature.”
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Trailer

Creative team