Written by Terry Pratchett

Adapted by Stephen Briggs

Directed by Jonathan Whiteside

Edinburgh-based Strawmoddie is back, transforming the Pleasance Theatre into the marvellously quirky and wonderous world of Terry Pratchett once again as an early part of Edinburgh’s Cymera festival, the dedicated festival to genre-based literature: a fine home for the madness of Pratchett’s beloved Discworld.

Fending off assassins, dragons, and slimy politicians, this time around the Ankh-Morpork City Watch faces down their most sinister threat ever: the ‘gonne’ – a new-fangled weapon which launches cartridges similar to a real-world hand cannon. It’s the first use of what audiences would see as a firearm, in a series constructed around dragons, wizards, swords, and walking bags, strikes with a bit of a shiver at the gruesome reality of gun crime feeding its way into a fantastical setting. It isn’t Pratchett’s most subtle analogy, but this is very ‘Pratchett‘.

Jonathan Whiteside’s direction (also skilfully returning as Vetenari) benefits from Stephen Briggs’ adaptation of Pratchett’s more conventional focus this time around – with fewer instances of side-narratives and character introductions out with the story. Certainly aiming to be a cleaner narrative than the more fantastical Hogfather, Men at Arms’ pacing is leagues above Pratchett’s usual work, sacrificing moments of humour for a more streamlined plot. Here, Whiteside uses the fleeting moments of humour to the team’s advantage – ensuring each gag lands with a punch or at least catapulted out with the appropriate delivery. What follows is Strawmoddie’s most accomplished Discworld adventure structurally, and any shortcomings tend to arise more from adaptation or Pratchett’s original tale.

Returning in fine fettle, Alex Card does something quite brilliant in their performance, especially for audiences who caught Strawmoddie’s previous production Guards! Guards! Guards! There’s a terrific amount of character growth which Card and Whiteside extract from the production; Carrot’s humour and naivety remain but are ironed out and played more as a personality quirk. There’s genuine chemistry with their co-stars, especially retiring captain Samuel Vimes, Chris Allan returning to their leading performance with the usual gusto – this time with the barb of knowing their time as the Watch captain is ending. Allan and Card bounce well off one another, forging a natural path forward for the story and setting up Carrot (and their romance with Alice Pelan’s Angua) for future productions.

Joining our returning Watch members are some ‘diversity hires’ for the city of Ankh–Morpork; starting with Constable Cuddy, the first dwarf brought into the Watch. The axe-wielding, quick-to-temper constable is played with bounce by Norzila Matheson, in a role with more edge and reason to the story than initial suspicions. Pelan returns to Discworld with Strawmoddie, this time as the personable, if occasionally evasive, Angua – often the reasonable voice in the room, flipping between flippant, flirtatious, and ferocious with their full-moon activities. But tonight’s winning addition is Gregor Dickie’s Detritus, the Troll. Slow, heavy-handed, but with a bursting heart that steals the audiences’ affections, Dickie’s comedic timing is spot-on with delivery of the hulking mass of rock and, occasionally, bouts of genius.

Sending in the clowns, Stephen Briggs’ adaptation captures a lot of the book’s humour. Pratchett’s Men at Arms is a less old-world-centric story than usual, which finds Edward d’Eath (a sinister Sinclair Davis), a down-and-out son of a noble family turning to dark deeds in the hopes of returning the social status he longs for to Ankh-Morpork, by installing a long lost monarch. Though few get a better laugh than the League of Fools’ leader Grace Gilbert’s Dr Whiteface or David Valdez Taylor’s Boffo. The pair (along with Amber Lipman) and the expected return of Death all aid in demonstrating Allan’s vivid design and costuming (Death now sporting additional layers of colour).

The ensemble performances here have a touch less to do than other Discworld adventures, making the most of their stage time – particularly Alan Sunter’s scheming and distrusting Dr Cruces and the always impressive character performances of Ben Blow, this time sporting the red-head wedding look with surprising finesse. And guiding us through it all – choppy scene changes to fluid transitions, are the delightful annotations of Debbie Cannon, filling in for Pratchett’s wonderful footnotes for character backgrounds, this time getting in on a bit more of the action with the odd interaction with some of the cast.

With another visit to Ank-Morpok safely in the bag and the audience looking forward to a festive production of Going Postal (one of Pratchett’s most beloved), Strawmoddie continues to carve out an appreciative audience who longingly await their next performance. Though not as outlandish or objectively humorous as Hogfather or Guards! Guards! Guards!, Men at Arms’ pacing and character development sets a high quality for the team to deliver with their future shows. A task (we have no reservations about) they relish. And we eagerly await another visit to the Discworld.

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