Eighty actors to perform 10 new comedies by Mark Ravenhill in 48-hour marathon

Mark Ravenhill will oversee an ambitious new project Wilton’s Music Hall on 9 and 10 May.

The event, titled Run At It Laughing, features ten modern 90-minute plays featuring storylines from the 1600s, blending elements of Shakespeare, Chaucer, bedroom farce, and the Carry On films. The plays will be presented as rehearsed readings over 48 hours, with a cast of 80 professional actors.

Run At It Laughing is based on scenarios first published in Italy in 1611. The plays are 90 minutes each and can be enjoyed individually or as part of the sequence. Ravenhill, known for works like Shopping and F***ing and The Cane, wrote and directs all 10 plays. Profits from the event will be donated to the Nia Project, which works to end violence against women and children.

Ravenhill explained: “In 1610, the Italian actor and impresario Flaminio Scala published a huge collection of scenarios for comic plays, drawing on his experience as a performer in the Commedia dell’arte from the 1580s onwards. In 1611, after a long career in the theatre, he published a volume of 50 full-length plays. There were no written scenes or dialogues in the volume. Simply a four page outline for each of the plays.”

The plays put the same characters in different situations, offering a cumulative pleasure in seeing several or all of them in action across different scenarios. He continued: “My aim has not been to make a historical reconstruction. I was drawn to the scenarios’ generosity of spirit and their comic energy. It seemed to me to be something which we need in these divisive times. My aim has been to write plays that allow contemporary audiences to laugh and to celebrate our shared humanity.”