Cvntclave is a solo show by Arden Fitzroy who charts the goings-on of the inner workings of a conclave, through the eyes of Cardinal Cvntvs. Of course what goes on in conclave is supposed to stay in conclave but I’m afraid I’m here to spill the tea!
The show begins with a journey as to why the three frontrunners to take over as Pope are clearly not suitable and once the front runners are dispatched, this leaves Cvntvs making an impassioned plea to be given the job. The story takes us through parts of the Vatican, through a teenage mutant ninja turtle challenge, to Vegas and into the darkest secrets of some of the participants present at the Conclave.
The show is densely packed with information as we jump from theology to the current goings on and most things in between, movie references and jokes are thrown in to the mix but the density of the script makes it difficult to penetrate and the jokes often fail to land as the audience has to work hard to keep up. The pacing here lacks as there is little light and shade and as a result the majority of the piece comes across as almost rambling, at one point Cvntvs turns to God and exclaims, ‘ I don’t know what you want?’ and the same is true of the audience, it is unclear if we are supposed to be laughing, mulling over their words philosophically or something else entirely. The message does become clearer in the last 10 minutes of the show and this is a call to action of acceptance and tolerance and it was this final impassioned plea that was the point at which the show finally gave me something to engage with. Whilst ambiguity can often be an effective theatrical tool, here it felt less like a deliberate uncertainty and more like a lack of clarity about what the audience were being asked to take from the material.
For a solo show to be successful you need to be an exceptional storyteller however Fitroy’s delivery was predominantly at one level, pace and tone and it was unclear at times if they were supposed to be breaking character or if it was Cvntvs himself delivering the lines, this occurred most often with the movie quotes as they slipped into different accents to deliver them but in doing so it jarred with the rest of Cvntvs’ soliloquy. It was also unclear as to the purpose of the movie quotes, from humour or to make the piece more relatable or simply to remind us that the piece takes inspiration from the film Conclave. Whilst they occasionally generated a laugh, more often than not they pulled me out of the world Fitzroy had created leaving me wondering if they were intended as satire, shorthand for the shows influence or another layer of comedy.
The set itself was kept simple, a small altar with a cross and as the audience arrived they found Cvntvs praying at it which was a nice touch as was the red velvet jacket and top which gave a nod to the Cardinals robes without being overly-costume like.
There is a worthwhile idea at the heart of Cvntclave and the shows final call for acceptance and tolerance is particularly timely. Unfortunately it takes too long to reach that point with the dense script, uneven delivery and unclear purpose of some of the comic devices making the journey difficult to follow. There are flashes of something much more compelling here, but the production would benefit from greater clarity, stronger pacing and a clearer sense of what it wants audiences to take away.
Cvntclave is on at Greenside @ George Street at 20:45- 21:45. You can find out more and book tickets here.
If you like this review you might also like my review of Dystopia 26, Darkfield and Bog Witch.