The Art of Dying, Royal Court

First performed as part of The Big Idea: Death in Open Court festival, Nick Payne’s The Art of Dying returns to the Royal Court this July. Exploring all aspects of death, from the process of dying to nature of being deceased, the play treats this most difficult of subjects with dark humour. 
Payne has enjoyed huge success in recent years; his play Constellations began at the Royal Court before transferring to the West End and winning Best Play at the 2012 Evening Standard Theatre Awards, making Payne the award’s youngest winner. This year, Blurred Lines, his collaboration with director Carrie Cracknell, has been one of the National’s most talked about plays, described as ‘Robin Thicke meets women’s lib’. 
Yet Payne did not just write The Art of Dying, he is the sole performer in this one man show. Playwrights performing their own work can lead to the pitfalls of self indulgence and idealism, yet we have faith that this will not be the case here. Described as a ‘mix of fact and fiction’, The Art of Dying is more than Payne recounting the tale of his dead father, and the element pure storytelling should prevent the show from veering into over-sentimentality. Director Michael Longhurst ’s input also reassures us; having previously worked with Payne on Constellations, he is familiar with Payne's writing. Intimate, but very much defined as a performance space, the studio space of the Jerwood theatre upstairs is ideal for this production. The Art of Dying is only a little play, but looks to be rather perfectly formed. Note: currently only day tickets are available.