The Anatomy of Melancholy

First and foremost, I must state, with absolutely no irony intended, that this play was an unadulterated joy to watch. Stan’s Cafe have achieved something astonishing and admirable in transforming a particularly difficult 17th century text into an accessible, but challenging piece of theatre; converting reams of self-help writing about melancholia into a brilliantly provocative performance. The Anatomy of Melancholy was charged with electric enthusiasm as four masochistically energetic actors bounded eagerly from scene to scene, deftly assuming different personas and emotions, interacting with the audience and a collection of bizarre props, and heatedly contradicting or censoring each other. Each of the characters had a unique presence and personality onstage, delightfully jostling for the audience’s attention, enthusiastically educating and entertaining. The cast skilfully toyed with different theatrical, in addition to multi-media, devices in order to illustrate, analyse and embody the topic of melancholia. This became what might be described as a multi-sensual lecture, including elements of dramatic monologue, physical theatre, dance, song, and slapstick comedy. Details like period costumes, medical illustrations and historical musical instruments helped to immerse the audience in the performance, appealing in both a humorous fashion, and an elevated and philosophical manner. This ultimately produced a highly engaging piece of theatre, which was as poignant as it was absurd.

Amusingly, the characters also spontaneously “edited” their performances as they went along: bullying each other into skipping sections of the performance, or suddenly launching into passionate speeches that baffled the other characters onstage. I was impressed, and surprised, by how moving and unpredictable this epic, theatrical lecture was. There would be slapstick, toilet humour one minute, and a sincere, sobering comment on human suffering the next. The flexibility of the cast was wonderful, who capitalised on the juxtaposition between solemn speeches, scholarly academic citations, and irreverent humorous skits to provoke and bemuse the audience. At times, the cast slightly tripped-up over their words, but ultimately this did not impact upon the performance as it may have done in a lesser play; the actors were so engaged and attuned to the performance that they immediately improvised, or corrected any errors with vigour and humour.

The length of the play was something of a double-edged sword, highlighting both positive and negative aspects of the performance. In respect of the former, the captivating energy and flexibility of the talented cast was evident, but of the latter, it was evident that the play would benefit from cutting some lesser scenes. It could in this way have been strengthened by a greater focus on several specific scenes, which stood out as being most relevant today. For example, remarks about stereotypically melancholic university students and the symptoms of “love-sickness”, scenes, which prompted gasps of surprised familiarity from the audience. Such scenes proved that some philosophical commentaries about the human condition are universal and timeless, and they provided an interesting parallel to the alien world of some of the more inventive melancholia “cures” that the cast presented to us. The company must be applauded for their admirably ambitious translation of this text to theatre.

The Anatomy of Melancholy was commissioned by Warwick Arts Centre, where its run has ended. The production tours to Birmingham Repertory Theatre Studio 7-9 November 2013.