Trafalgar Studio 2 – until 27th April 2019
Review by Elizabeth J Smith
Written, directed and staring John Godber, Scary Bikers is a “new comedy about life, love and staying on your bike”. In truth it is a play about two bereaved people who happen to meet at the grave side and even though they come from very different back grounds they seem to hit it off.
Don, John Godber, is approaching 65 and mourning the loss of his feisty or as he says, bonkers wife Jean. He is a retired miner who stood proud on the picket lines during the miners strike and now works as a porter in a NHS hospital, that he feels is failing their elderly patients.
Carole, Jane Thornton, also mourning the death of her successful architect husband Rob. Formerly a private school teacher, who originally had ambitions of being an artist but failed. She is approaching 60 and running a bike shop in memory of her husband and his passion for cycling.
The pair discover they share a passion for cycling and decide to join forces and cycle to Florence. As the trip is expensive and Don is a little strapped for cash they decide a tandem is a cost effective way to go. Their journey begins the day the UK voted on to “stay or leave” the EU. Don was a leaver and Carole a remainer. Was this the end before the journey began? They soldier on and discover why each voted the way they did.
Scary Bikers looks closely at social politics and how each of us assumes everyone else thinks the same. How politicians seem only to be out for their own gain, appearing on reality TV shows to show how they are one of the people. How the propaganda surrounding Brexit lead many to vote out not realising that once again the powers that be in Westminster were all lying through their teeth and how the North never feels represented in parliament.
With laugh out loud moments, funny one liners only a Northerner knows how to deliver, to tender flash backs of the dead partners that will move you to tears. The pair convey the physical agony of long distance bike riding and the dangers of other road users with great comic timing. A fascinating master piece of social observation and extremely relevant in our time.