Season 2, Episode 2:
The Most Lamentable...
With Chris Bean back at the helm, the CPDS stages a classic Shakespeare tragedy (well, written by Colin Shakespeare's lesser known cousin Simon Shakespeare, that is). In Tudor England, King Walter has set up his bastard son, Prince Richard, to be next in line to rule, to the objections of his wife, Queen Isobel, and Malcolm his covetous brother and the Queen's secret lover. Upon going to war in France, Richard is surprised to find Prince Louis, the Prince Regent of France, is his long-lost identical twin brother. This discovery sparks a succession crisis in the English monarchy as the two princes conflict over the throne.
Following Robert’s terrible stint as director, Chris reassumes the position and delegates Robert to a non-speaking role. From there, the hijinks get royally infuriating as Jonathan becomes a knight trapped in his own armour, Dennis doesn't play the comical part of a jester quite right, Annie's role as a King gets her caught out at an inopportune moment, and Trevor is pushed into his first acting role in a while. And of course, Robert doesn't take his situation lying down, always looking to get a word in wherever he can.
"The Most Lamentable..." contains examples of:
- Alleged Lookalikes: The obvious issue that comes from casting Max and Chris as long-lost twins.
- Ascended Extra: Robert tries to turn his background roles into this, though Chris has to remind him he’s "non-speaking!"
- Played straight with Trevor, who goes from a stand-in Pushed in Front of the Audience to an actual actor.
- Bad "Bad Acting": We quickly see why Trevor doesn’t act more frequently in his brief performance.Trevor: [as an English soldier] Suf-FER-ing GREAT-ly AT the FRENCH-man's HAND...
- Bawdy Song: Dennis was supposed to sing one, but he burns the sheet almost immediately and starts improvising.
- Black Knight: Malcolm (Jonathan) spends the whole play in a suit of black plate armour and serves as The Dragon to Queen Isobel. Jonathan's inability to speak or move properly in the heavy, poorly-oiled suit, however, make him come off as more ineffectual than sinister and intimidating.
- Chekhov's Gun:
- In the play, it’s mentioned early on that Richard is the illegitimate son of the King. When Louis is introduced, the King confesses that the mother was the Queen of France, with the two having been separated due to the political ramifications.
- Outside the play, Robert's efforts to save Annie from being crushed by the portcullis result in a gargoyle falling from the wall and being left dangling over the archway. In the finale, Vanessa steps through the gate so that her character can be crowned queen... and in that moment, the gargoyle slips from the arch and lands squarely on her head, knocking her unconscious.
- Demoted to Extra: Chris and Robert mutually agreed that the latter should only play non-speaking parts. Robert thus keeps inserting dialogue where possible, even when Playing a Tree.
- Everyone Has Standards: Robert, not shy about trying to force himself into every scene, decides he's better off not being part of the increasingly disastrous interaction between the Queen (Vanessa) and the Fool (Dennis).Robert: I don't even wanna be in this scene. [Walks off stage]
- Frame-Up: Richard achieves this by throwing Louis’s hat onto the King’s corpse.
- Karma Houdini: In the play as scripted, the Queen gets away with her scheming with no apparent punishment. Subverted in Cornley’s Off the Rails performance, where she gets her head bashed in by a falling gargoyle.
- Lady Macbeth: Appropriately for a pseudo-Shakespearean play, the Queen is conspiring with the King’s brother Malcolm to take the throne and serves as the driving force behind Malcolm's ambition.
- "No. Just… No" Reaction: Sandra’s response when Dennis is the next best candidate to become King.
- Officially Shortened Title: The play is officially titled The Most Lamentable... with an ellipsis, onscreen and in Cornley's records. The full unabridged title is — The Most Lamentable Tragedy of the Prince of England and His Long-Lost Twin Brother, Prince Regent of France, and the Problems Therein Experienced By All When They Came to Know of One Another After a Battle.
- Rage Breaking Point: After a season and change of strained patience whenever acting opposite Dennis, culminating in his disastrous failure to "join [her] in fiction!" in this play, Vanessa finally loses her patience with his utter lack of acting ability when he fails to understand her character's use of iambic pentameter:Vanessa: Look! My— my goodly fool, my heart in pieces / tides thee submit gentle Malcolm hither.
Dennis: What?
Vanessa: [screaming in his face and clearly one wrong move away from punching him] GET MALCOLM! GET MALCOLM NOW!!!
Dennis: Alright! Alright! [scurries away as quick as he can] - Running Gag: Robert's antics as the 'relevant trumpeter' elicit much annoyance from Chris, who repeatedly has to remind Robert that he has a non-speaking role.
- This time, Jonathan’s dialogue gets muffled by his rusty helmet, before he magnetises the armour, trapping him in the iron maiden.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Eric the Jester informs the Queen of Richard’s duplicity, leading to the succession battle.
- William Fakespeare: Doubly so, for this Shakespeare tragedy is revealed to have been penned by Simon Shakespeare, the "much less well-known and much less well-regarded" cousin of Colin Shakespeare.
- Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe: To be expected from a Shakespeare play, but the actors engage in this even when saying unscripted and/or improvised material.Dennis: Tarry a moment, for, um... for, um... 'tis about the king.
Vanessa: Prithee, tell me!
Dennis: 'Tis it about the king?
Vanessa: Yes... methinks it is... You— bring me news of the king's health.
Dennis: Methinks... methinks the king is well.
Vanessa: No.
Dennis: The king is dead.
Vanessa: Mhm.
Dennis: Aye, the king is well dead! But the worst is still to come, for, er... er... aye, he was murdered by Chris!
Vanessa: Prithee, but... who doth Chris play?
Dennis: The king.
Vanessa: Nay. The king didn't kill the king, did he?
