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Review: The Ungodly (Southwark Playhouse Borough)

Review by Harry Bower


⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️


In the 17th century, the self-appointed Essex-based ‘Witchfinder General’, Matthew Hopkins, played a crucial role in the hanging of over one hundred people. Not, on the face of it, a topic rife for theatrical revelry. Writer Joanna Carrick has a history of turning our history into well received plays, and Hopkins is the subject of The Ungodly which opened tonight at Southwark Playhouse. The resulting two hour four-hander is unnerving, spooky, and downright uncomfortable at times. It’s also surprisingly relatable, for a piece set almost 400 years ago, and terrifyingly relevant to our suspicious and bitter world today.



It’s 1634-ish. Young Hopkins, a jittery, stuttering mess of a teenager played by Vincent Moisy, stands in the doorway clutching a bible. Timid and shy, he is desperately trying to avoid upsetting anyone. His half-sister, Susan, is grieving the loss of her sister’s child, another member of the family taken too soon. She unsuccessfully tries to bat away the attention of the besotted Richard, who begs for her hand in marriage. A series of pacey vignettes leap forward a handful of years at a time, cleverly tracking Susan and Richard’s relationship and Hopkins’ evolution from boy to man. The trio’s lives are interwoven as they experience growth, happiness, loss, grief, and joy together time after time. The first forty five is full of relationship tension, and serves as an essential storytelling bedrock for what’s to come.


When unexplained events begin to happen in town, the threesome debate God’s influence and conclude there must be something darker afoot. In true conspiracy-theory fashion, the tales of an alternate reality slowly permeate the local community. Richard is the last to turn, convinced only by his until-now defiant wife, and his desperation to explain the couple’s unimaginable loss. There are so many parallels to draw here between 1634 and 2024 that it’s difficult to know where to start.



On his puritanical father’s deathbed, Matthew Hopkins promised his dad that he’d live a pure life, dedicated to serving the Lord. Hopkins is true to his word, and begins tracking down those he deems to be worshipping the Devil, weeding them out, and collecting the evidence required to put them to death. Research suggests his methods were pretty brutal, and some of that brutality is alluded to here; the starving of suspects or those he was questioning, and the intense interrogations which would deprive people of sleep and other necessities. There is a risk that the creatives could have gone too far with this - in terms of shock factor. In actuality the somewhat restrained demonstration of these interrogations, in favour of more deeply understanding the interconnected relationships between the characters and trying to shine a light on at least some of Hopkins’ motivations, is much more impactful. It adds to the psychological elements at play - how can a person be so utterly convinced of real magic, that they would have someone hanged?


Superb lighting complements excellent direction. The piece is staged in the round, in Southwark’s ‘The Little’ space, which is perfect for this production. The four performers encircle each other, rarely standing still, always conscious of sight lines. Furniture is moved sometimes during scenes, sometimes between them, but always in character and never to irritation or frivolity. The crescendos and fade-outs between scenes are a little jarring, and neither act endings convincingly offer indication of applause. Mostly though, the audience are holding their breath after a confrontation, and so applause is at the back of our minds.



Three performers (playing Richard, Susan and Matthew) are onstage pretty much throughout, the fourth joining in act two to play Rebecca West, a victim of Hopkins’ interrogation. All four are excellent and demonstrate relationships which are nuanced, layered, and full of chemistry. As bumbling, hapless husband Richard and quietly fierce and heartbreakingly naive Susan, Christopher Ashman and Nadia Jackson excel. Their stacks of dialogue and relentless stage-time pile the pressure on in the moments of ramped up tension, aggression, and despair - and neither falter. Each gives their all in full commitment to their somewhere-in-England-accents, simple yet complicated relationship, and fear of the unknown. They both have buckets of believability. 


As Rebecca West, Rei Mordue gets to play dumb, a young woman wrapped up in what she thought was innocent prayer, and turns out to be a direct encounter with the Devil incarnate. Mordue embodies the mortified West well, spending much of her stagetime exasperated and in tears. It’s a performance worthy of her character’s predicament, fortunately staying on the right side of believability. Vincent Moisy gives the standout performance of the lot as the evil Hopkins, somehow making him likeable and endearing while he’s instigating the slaughter of many. Moisy’s strong physicality helps the audience track the life of Hopkins from stuttering teenager, to suspicious young adult, completing his journey as cocksure General leading the charge and rallying citizens. It’s a transformation in two hours only possible by a performance which allows his character room to develop, and in which his non-verbal performance is just as important if not more so, as his dialogue.



Historical theatre is always tricky to review. Pieces like The Ungodly are presented as being based on a true story - and they are - but if events happened over 350 years ago, how can we be sure of anything about them, other than names or key facts? In these infamous cases, much has to be assumed or fabricated. Carrick has done a brilliant job at writing characters which feel both grounded and realistic, but also clearly demonstrate a sense of caricature. That sense of cartoonish characterisation is important, because it allows the audience to distance themselves somewhat from the ye-olde-language, hay on the floor, and the obsessive references to religion - and consider the play as a piece of educational entertainment rather than a theatrical imagining of a Wikipedia article. Writing like this though also comes with its disadvantages, in a search to find the reason behind a real historical figure’s actions. I’m not quite sure how to write this without it sounding glib - but some neurodivergent audience members might find these characteristics uncomfortably relatable given the lack of any real evidence about who Hopkins actually is.


It’s almost Halloween. The Ungodly is the perfect way to spend spooky season. It’s dark, sometimes uncomfortable, and always entertaining. It serves as a timely reminder of how easily conspiracy theories can tear apart communities. One need only cast attention across the Atlantic to see the relevance with an upcoming U.S election. It features a quality up and coming cast and stellar direction, and is written with a 1600s flair not entirely divorced from Shakespeare. Whatever you do, though, don’t ride a horse to Southwark Playhouse. Once you’ve seen the show, you’ll understand why.


The Ungodly plays at Southwark Playhouse until Saturday 16 November 2024. For more information visit: https://southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/productions/the-ungodly/ 


Photos by Bernie Totten

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