Gawain and the Green Knight
Up for the Chop
Gawain and the Green Knight
by Gabriel Fogarty-Graveson and Felix Grainger
Make It Beautiful at the Park Theatre, Finsbury Park until 24th December
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a 14th-century chivalric poem and Arthurian legend. It tells the story of Gawain, one of the Knights of the Round Table, who challenges a mysterious, formidable, and seemingly unbeatable Green Knight who has dared any man to strike him with an axe, promising to return the blow in a year and a day.
In an imaginative move, theatre company Make It Beautiful has created a lightly comedic reimagining of the story set in the present-day offices of cybersecurity firm, Camelot Corporation. The new CEO has decided to give the company an Arthurian rebrand and required all her staff to adopt new names. She is now called Arthur, her deputy is Lancelot, and the rather dull IT guy, Gary, is now to be known as Gawain. He is considered rather boring and miserable, so after ten years at the firm, poor old Gary, sorry, Gawain, is being banished — i.e., made redundant. As reasons for dismissal go, this might not stand up under the Employment Rights Act 2025, but let’s go with it, as well as the rather unusual redeployment process which involves the introduction of a mystical Green Knight and Gary-Gawain being given the opportunity to begins an epic quest to embody the five traits of courage, chastity, honour, generosity, and nobility.
Along the way, Gawain meets a cast of characters, including the Lady of the Forest and her dryads, and there is a sub-plot of a love story as Gawain struggles to tell Guinevere how he feels, with their love developing over a bag of Quavers. Instead of a feast, there is a mandatory office Christmas party
The play’s mix of modern and ancient times is innovative, but it relies mostly on the audience’s imagination. Simon Nicholas’s excellent set features two walls of filing drawers, some of which serve as steps and seats, and it evocatively creates the sterile atmosphere of an unremarkable office, but there is nothing medieval about it. Inside the office is a set of lift doors used to take Gawin to different places, and the cast refers to them as having used up all the budget. On a timely note, a tannoy is used to explain the link between scenes — this is Merlin, an AI device that seems to be the real power behind the Camelot Corporation, presenting an all too possible prospect of technology taking over from human decision making.
As an exercise in creativity, Gawain and the Green Knight scores highly, but anyone unfamiliar with the poem might find this version difficult to understand. Like any rework, it should be accessible to a new audience, but I’m not sure this production really succeeds. Nevertheless, there is talent on display here, with standout performances from Cara Steele (Arthur), Gabriel Fogarty-Graveson (Lancelot), and Laura Pujos, playing Guinevere, showcasing her beautiful voice with small snippets of folk songs interjected here and there. As Gawain, co-writer Felix Grainger feels a little bit lightweight. He has many comedic lines and entertaining puns, but the role needed more gusto and impact to carry the play forward.
There is a resolution of sorts to Gary’s quest: after nearly two hours, we discover (spoiler!) that Gary was not boring — just bored. Hmm — is this enough to base a whole script on?
Despite an imaginative premise, some funny moments and brilliant characterisation by the talented young cast, I left feeling slightly short-changed and wanting more substance. A missed opportunity.
Fi Mead-McNish, December 2025
Photography courtesy of Make It Beautiful
Mark Aspen 