Trafalgar Studios 2 May – 3 June. Reviewed by Claire Roderick
I was blown away by Out There on Fried Meat Ridge Rd. at the White Bear earlier in the year, so jumped at the chance to see it again at Trafalgar Studios. This is one of those plays that you want to see over and over again, and under Harry Burton’s assured direction it is a sure-fire hit.
JD (writer Keith Stevenson) lives and works in a tatty motel run by Flip (Michael Wade) – who likes to know where you’re from so that he can direct his racist comments appropriately. After breaking up with his girlfriend and losing his job in the spork factory, Mitchell (Robert Moloney) answers JD’s ad for a roommate and his initial horror at realising he’d be sleeping in the same room as JD is compounded when he meets his neighbours. As well as Flip bursting into the room spouting (very funny) bile, meth head Marlene (Melanie Gray) and New Jersey thug Tommy (Alex Ferns) keep storming in in various states of hysteria and rage. So far, so Jerry Springer. But these stereotypical veneers hide more interesting depths. Marlene is an artist and Tommy is a poet (he thinks). The fantastic cast are all completely believable and are all given moments to steal the show – the production has the feel of an American Father Ted. The set is ludicrously realistic with damp patches, rubbish on the floor, piles of clothes on the bed – and an unescapable smell of tuna in the later stages of the play.
Stevenson’s surreal and farcical plot develops the characters wonderfully in the short running time and reveals the close family that exists in the motel without getting schmaltzy. JD at first appears to be a few sandwiches short of a picnic – he believes his mother’s story about his father being Jesus – but his sweet and simple philosophy of kindness and neighbourliness is infectious, and the realisation that the other characters need him and respect him, rather than take advantage of him, comes quickly. There is a huge warmth and love for these frankly insane characters, and the laughs come thick and fast. There’s even a hostage situation, which JD tries to resolve through the medium of dance. I cried with laughter. And the final reveal is just brilliant. It is just what you are hoping for after falling a little bit in love with the cuddly JD. Everyone needs a neighbour like him.
Just brilliant. And it really stands up to repeated viewing. Knowing what happens, you pick up the smart throw away lines that signpost the truth, and see more and more layers in the actors’ portrayals of this bunch of loons. I am definitely going back for more of this miraculous madness. A must-see production.