An unemployed man stands in the town square, watching the world go by, unknowing of the mayhem that is about to take place. Ice cream. Lightning strike. Bombs. A wedding. Shootings. Sandwiches. And tanks. Through the chaotic plot, the childish ways in which the characters prance around on stage and the dry sense of humour, Mullarkey explores the attitudes that society have towards bombings, shootings and immigrant crises. Pity is a satire, criticising the way in which people in power handle these issues, as well as the onlookers, who choose to be bystanders and not interfere. As the play progresses, a war rages on between two sides, with no apparent reason for the fighting, however, the characters seem unfazed by the increasing number of nearby explosions, which portrays the banality of these attacks, thus suggests that our society has become used to recent bombings and shootings, therefore do not feel the urgent need to face these important issues.
Before the play begins, the audience has an opportunity to buy drinks at a pop-up bar in the alleyway behind the theatre, where there is a path that leads onto the stage, so audience members enter the theatre by walking onto stage and filtering down the steps into their seats. Audience members also have the opportunity to buy ice cream from the Pity market square located onstage. Upon walking into the theatre, the audience is met with the jolly, lively music played by the brass band on stage. These special elements boosts the relaxed, cheerful atmosphere and creates a connection between the audience and the characters in the play, thus emphasising the idea that the audience is part of the society that the play is portraying.
One of the most enjoyable elements of the play is the use of physical theatre. The amusing manner in which the actors prance around on stage, dancing and doing cartwheels emphasises the childish, ignorant attitude the characters have towards the severity of the events occurring around them. There are times where the characters clump together in a group and move using snappy movements timed perfectly with the use of sound effects, which adds humour and, when used alongside the characters happily eating ice-cream, numbs the severity of the traumatic events happening around them. Moreover, Mullarkey uses the idea of ice-cream, which represents the sweetness and innocence of a community untouched by the atrocities of bombings and shootings, to contrast with the traumas of war and violence. It is enjoyable to see the freedom in which the actors have to move; whether it is to dance frantically, or to get down on all fours and act like feral dogs.
One of most memorable elements of the play is the way the bombings are symbolised and depicted, with the clever use of special effects: confetti is exploded across the stage to represent the bombs, which symbolises the futility of bombings, because, although they hurt many people in real life (as depicted in the play with the characters being startled by the explosions), no one in authority cares enough to prevent them (as shown in the play with the characters going on with their everyday lives), therefore the confetti emphasises how bombings and shootings are immoral and pointless. However, the explosion of confetti also cleverly symbolises the destruction of childhood innocence, thus shows the horrific impacts of war and violent acts of hatred. When a certain place in the town is blown up, objects that are normally found in that place would fall onto stage from the ceiling (for example, when the AirBnB is bombed, pillows fall from the sky onto stage); as a result, the stage is left scattered with confetti, leaves, flowers, legal documents, pillows and ice-cream cones, which symbolises how the war is a mess. To emphasise the consequences of war, two characters attempt to sweep the stage near the end of the play, however, it is impossible for them to completely rid the stage of debris, which suggests that war has long-lasting effects on communities around the world. At one point, fire is shot up from stage to symbolise the rages of war and when used in combination with strobe lighting, creates an intense, hectic atmosphere.
The main way Mullarkey criticises the way people in power handle bombings and shootings is to include the current Prime Minister, Theresa May, is his play. In his writing, Mullarkey mocks the way May handles the attacks on the town, by clearly showing that she does not know the name of the town, or what actually happened to the town; this could be a reflection of Theresa May’s response to the horrific Grenfell Tower fire. Not only does the character of Theresa May in the play seem to ramble on and not care about the bombings, she begins to sing about her love for ham and cheese sandwiches, which, although is hilarious and has the entire audience erupting into laughter, emphasises how the general public seem to care more about a celebrity’s taste in food rather than the prominent issues in today’s society.
Although the play is jam-packed with explosions, fire, rain, confetti and ice-cream, there are times where the plot is quite slow, because what is happening on stage is repetitive at times, and, thus, especially due to there being no interval, the audience can lose interest. Furthermore, in some of the long monologues, it is sometimes hard to follow what the character is saying, because the audience has to be constantly attentive to understand exactly what the characters are expressing; however, that is not to say that the ways in which the actors deliver the speeches are not funny.
Overall, Pity is a thought-provoking piece, depicting the way our society deals with the ever more important issues of society in a childish, ignorant and funny manner, therefore encouraging us to to ask whether we care enough to prevent bombings and shootings. Mullarkey cleverly uses comedy and creates a seemingly light-hearted atmosphere to mask the true atrocities and terror caused by the horrific accidents and attacks, in order to suggest the banality of bombings and how our society has become too used to these shootings that we have started not to care. Furthermore, this play questions the way we are handling immigrant crises and whether our attitudes are horrible and insensitive. Pity is clever, thought-provoking and I would recommend this play to anyone who is interested in modern politics and society’s issues; however, this is suitable for people aged 14 and over, due to the mature themes.
Before the play begins, the audience has an opportunity to buy drinks at a pop-up bar in the alleyway behind the theatre, where there is a path that leads onto the stage, so audience members enter the theatre by walking onto stage and filtering down the steps into their seats. Audience members also have the opportunity to buy ice cream from the Pity market square located onstage. Upon walking into the theatre, the audience is met with the jolly, lively music played by the brass band on stage. These special elements boosts the relaxed, cheerful atmosphere and creates a connection between the audience and the characters in the play, thus emphasising the idea that the audience is part of the society that the play is portraying.
One of the most enjoyable elements of the play is the use of physical theatre. The amusing manner in which the actors prance around on stage, dancing and doing cartwheels emphasises the childish, ignorant attitude the characters have towards the severity of the events occurring around them. There are times where the characters clump together in a group and move using snappy movements timed perfectly with the use of sound effects, which adds humour and, when used alongside the characters happily eating ice-cream, numbs the severity of the traumatic events happening around them. Moreover, Mullarkey uses the idea of ice-cream, which represents the sweetness and innocence of a community untouched by the atrocities of bombings and shootings, to contrast with the traumas of war and violence. It is enjoyable to see the freedom in which the actors have to move; whether it is to dance frantically, or to get down on all fours and act like feral dogs.
One of most memorable elements of the play is the way the bombings are symbolised and depicted, with the clever use of special effects: confetti is exploded across the stage to represent the bombs, which symbolises the futility of bombings, because, although they hurt many people in real life (as depicted in the play with the characters being startled by the explosions), no one in authority cares enough to prevent them (as shown in the play with the characters going on with their everyday lives), therefore the confetti emphasises how bombings and shootings are immoral and pointless. However, the explosion of confetti also cleverly symbolises the destruction of childhood innocence, thus shows the horrific impacts of war and violent acts of hatred. When a certain place in the town is blown up, objects that are normally found in that place would fall onto stage from the ceiling (for example, when the AirBnB is bombed, pillows fall from the sky onto stage); as a result, the stage is left scattered with confetti, leaves, flowers, legal documents, pillows and ice-cream cones, which symbolises how the war is a mess. To emphasise the consequences of war, two characters attempt to sweep the stage near the end of the play, however, it is impossible for them to completely rid the stage of debris, which suggests that war has long-lasting effects on communities around the world. At one point, fire is shot up from stage to symbolise the rages of war and when used in combination with strobe lighting, creates an intense, hectic atmosphere.
The main way Mullarkey criticises the way people in power handle bombings and shootings is to include the current Prime Minister, Theresa May, is his play. In his writing, Mullarkey mocks the way May handles the attacks on the town, by clearly showing that she does not know the name of the town, or what actually happened to the town; this could be a reflection of Theresa May’s response to the horrific Grenfell Tower fire. Not only does the character of Theresa May in the play seem to ramble on and not care about the bombings, she begins to sing about her love for ham and cheese sandwiches, which, although is hilarious and has the entire audience erupting into laughter, emphasises how the general public seem to care more about a celebrity’s taste in food rather than the prominent issues in today’s society.
Although the play is jam-packed with explosions, fire, rain, confetti and ice-cream, there are times where the plot is quite slow, because what is happening on stage is repetitive at times, and, thus, especially due to there being no interval, the audience can lose interest. Furthermore, in some of the long monologues, it is sometimes hard to follow what the character is saying, because the audience has to be constantly attentive to understand exactly what the characters are expressing; however, that is not to say that the ways in which the actors deliver the speeches are not funny.
Overall, Pity is a thought-provoking piece, depicting the way our society deals with the ever more important issues of society in a childish, ignorant and funny manner, therefore encouraging us to to ask whether we care enough to prevent bombings and shootings. Mullarkey cleverly uses comedy and creates a seemingly light-hearted atmosphere to mask the true atrocities and terror caused by the horrific accidents and attacks, in order to suggest the banality of bombings and how our society has become too used to these shootings that we have started not to care. Furthermore, this play questions the way we are handling immigrant crises and whether our attitudes are horrible and insensitive. Pity is clever, thought-provoking and I would recommend this play to anyone who is interested in modern politics and society’s issues; however, this is suitable for people aged 14 and over, due to the mature themes.