Can’t Stand up for Falling Down
Richard Cameron has been described by Aleks Sierz as
“Doncaster bard. Poet of post-industrial South Yorks. Specialises in tender and hilarious accounts of northern working-class life. His lyrical vision embraces tough women and violent men.“
Cameron wrote Can’t Stand Up for Falling Down in 1990 and it was first performed at the Hampstead Theatre. It’s mainly based on three interweaving monologues given by women but in relation to the men (and one violent man in particular) in their lives. In that respect it echoes a lot of the work that Conor McPherson produced later with interlocking monologues of mainly male charcters.
There’s a revival on at the Arcola theatre – click here - with a very strong cast (Emily Dobbs, Rachel Fishwick and Emilie Patry — although I may have a bias as Emilie is a friend) and straightforward but powerful design (Rhiannon Brown, the debris and items of the characters life all piled up at the back of the stage), lighting (Alex Stone) and direction (Dan Ayling). However, as always with monologues, they live or die by the actors performances, which were good.
Definitely worth checking out and as always you can get a great Turkish grill from Mangal opposite the theatre (which seems to have had a good scrub up of late). Also note the play is staged in the “new” Arcola Studio 2, which is a small but seemingly very flexible space.
Until 4th November, 020 7503 16 46 (box office)
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About me
I'm a playwright and investment analyst. I have a broad range of interests: food, gardening, innovation & intellectual property, sustainability, architecture & design, writing and the arts. I sit on the board of Talawa Theatre Company and advise a CIS investment trust on socially responsible investments.
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Recent Work
Recent plays include, for theatre: Nakamitsu, Yellow Gentlemen, Lost in Peru, Lemon Love. For radio: Places in Between (R4), Patent Breaking Life Saving (WS).
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Nakamitsu
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Yellow Gentlemen
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