WITH 2016 marking the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s pasing what better way to commemorate it than explore his 75 theatrical deaths?

That’s certainly what Toby Keys of Brighton-based clowning troupe Spymonkey thinks – but he hasn’t reckoned with his fellow three idiots who may not have read his memos in advance.

For this world premiere at Brighton Festival the Argus Angel-winners have teamed up with playwright and director Tim Crouch to produce a very contemporary take on the four-centuries-old stories.

“We have a counter which goes from 75 to zero on stage,” says Crouch. “Every time there is a death a buzzer sounds – often when you least expect it.

“In Antony And Cleopatra Enobarbus takes himself off to die of shame – when the buzzer goes for his death is entirely up to us!

“This has been a treat for me – I have done a lot of Shakespearean work in the past for Brighton Festival and the Royal Shakespeare Company. We want to make a work that a Shakespeare scholar would be tickled by, but which you don’t have to be a scholar to enjoy.”

Although the company is exploring all the deaths in detail as they write the piece, Keys is keen to point out the focus of the show is more on Spymonkey than creating an historical thesis over the course of two hours.

“It will be a play about the four of us trying to do the material, sometimes succeeding but often falling into arguments about it, beating each other up and getting very messy,” he says.

“It’s a show about Spymonkey making a show about death and mortality.”

“Nobody is getting any younger,” chips in Crouch. “Spymonkey has been together for 18 years – they aren’t spring chickens. Stephan [Kreiss] has had open heart surgery. If it gets too exciting we could kill somebody!”

Rather than invest in lavish costumes and a Globe-style set Keys has decided to explore contemporary theatre styles – with four microphones on stage and plenty of digital audio-visual wizardry.

Helping on that side of things is Brighton-based current Children’s Laureate Chris Riddell who has created a series of designs for the production – including a card game based on 30 of the deaths.

“Some of the categories include the speed of death, piteousness, last words, gore and brutality,” says Crouch, who is at pains to point out the game should not be compared to cult playground favourite Top Trumps.

“It’s encouraging children and adults to pick them up and play.”

Riddell’s image of the fly killed in Titus Andronicus has become a symbol for the production – which is previewing in Northampton before it gets its official Brighton premiere.

“What we do is really absurd and very stupid,” says Keys, whose role in the show mirrors what Crouch does behind the scenes.

“In order to do that we work really hard, and in depth, on the material. The finished show will be beautiful, funny, silly, and theatrical with some fantastic dancing.”

The biggest challenge has been covering the deaths in a meaningful way.

“We are not going to tell all the stories of the deaths,” says Crouch. “Rather than having scholastic integrity I have to make sure we do them in a recognisable way.”

“It’s hard to make people care about people you don’t have any plot or story leading up to the death,” adds Keys.

“We have tried to think about how the spirit of Shakespeare influences us as performers and a company.

“I’m the leader of the company, so I get assassinated like Julius Caesar. There’s a version of Hamlet with Stephan and Petra [Massey] finally consummating their relationship – they’ve had a sexually charged relationship for 15 years. Stephan becomes too clingy so Petra can’t wait to get rid of him. Instantly you get that Othello and Desdemona-style emotional relationship.”

And there is the sheer ridiculousness of actors trying to play dead on stage – with acting lore stating the best time to die is before the end of the first act, preferably behind a sofa.

“I played Macbeth and can remember lying very still trying not to breathe,” says Crouch.

“You can’t actually be dead on stage and that goes to the heart of what we are trying to express. It fits the clown agenda very well.”

“Spymonkey is always about attempting the impossible,” adds Key. “It’s good for us to set ourselves up for the biggest fall we can possibly have.”

The Complete Deaths

Theatre Royal Brighton, New Road, Wednesday, May 11, to Sunday, May 15

Starts Wed to Sat 7.30pm, Sat/Sun 2.30pm, from £12.50. Call 01273 709709.