Motortown

‘Motortown’ by Simon Stephens, is a 2-hour play written in four ‘tumultuous’ days. Stephens started writing on 6^th July, the day London won the 2012 Olympic bid, which was the day before the London bombings. Renato Fabretti’s production is showing at the Blue Room, Northbridge at 8.00 pm nightly until 5^th July.

          Autistic Lee (Glenn Hall) is preparing for the return of his younger brother, Danny (Richie Flanagan) from a tour of duty with the army in Basra. You can see that Danny loves his brother, but confronting his old surroundings in motortown (Dagenham, in Essex) he finds that he is a changed man. After many months of being continuously alert and constantly aggressive, he has newly acquired demons. On his return, his life is in disarray. He expects to pick up where he left off with an ex-girlfriend (Melanie Munt) but is dismayed to find that her life has moved on.
         Danny feels that perhaps the security of a replica pistol will bring him peace of mind, so he buys one from an old friend (Ben Russell). In the process, he meets 14-year-old Jade (Amanda Woodhams). Will Jade and the friendly couple (Anita Erceg and James Helm) that he meets in a hotel bar help him come to grips with his angst and help him regain normality?

This is not a ‘fun’ play, it is strong stuff. Both leads, Flanagan with his blank, emotionless face and massive mood swings and Woodhams as the petrified Jade play their parts with tremendous conviction. Backed by a strong cast. Sensational.

Director Marisa Garreffa tackles yet another genre – the last two plays were musical comedy and then a biography through the eyes of a child. Now she tackles this heavy drama, with ‘in the round’ seating for more audience intimacy and employs an extremely simple set to avoid distraction. Relying upon Karen Cook’s lighting design and clever use of UV light for atmospheric effects – look at the walls for hidden demons. Costume design by Skye Hegarty immediately indicated the characters of the actors.

The life of this damaged squaddie is repulsive but compulsive viewing. Not an easy evening’s entertainment but this gruelling play, of a pathetic broken life, can be thoroughly recommended.