Cry/Laugh review – did you hear the one about the town crier and the jester?

Òran Mór, Glasgow
Nay Dhanak’s clownish tale follows an odd couple struggling to live up to their roles passing news from royal power to the public

We are in a medieval world of portentous comets, fiery dragons and punitive taxes. For the average peasant, it is tough going, but even in this hierarchical society, two of them have uncommon access to power. One is the town crier, the mediator of news between monarch and serf. The other is the jester, employed by the court to tell it like it is. If anyone can quell a peasants’ revolt, it is these two.

Playwright Nay Dhanak is fascinated by this imbalance of power, reflected, they suggest, in today’s mismatch between tech overlords and everyone else. Cry/Laugh, their professional debut, is a speculation about two such privileged outsiders losing their jobs. Can no news really be good news?

At Òran Mór, Glasgow, until 20 June
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