Writer: Kieran Hurley
Director: Roxana Silbert
There are shades of Whitehall farce in Kieran Hurley’s new play, as a teacher drops his trousers in a clumsy bid to meet a rent boy.
Sex worker Zara (Dani Heron) finds herself welcoming Mr Urquhart (Conleth Hill) to her flat for a tryst with a male colleague who’s failed to turn up on time. This set-up sows the seeds of awkwardness that permeates the subsequent action.
Zara explains her rules, along with her co-operative, non-judgemental approach to running a brothel. Her matter-of-fact approach brings plenty of early laughs. At one point, confiscating Urquhart’s hip flask, she assures him he’ll ‘get it back at the end.’ It’s a delicious slice of role-reversal.
Once he’s recognised Zara, her favourite former teacher is aghast to find them both in this transactional situation. However, she’s more concerned about what she sees as the motivational untruths Urquhart peddled while she was in school.
It turns out that she went to university and got a first in English Literature, only to find few prospects upon graduation. Now she becomes a mouthpiece, as it were, for the Millennial generation. In a hilarious sequence, she deconstructs Thomas the Tank Engine as a horrifying piece of exploitative propaganda.
Things don’t get any easier for Urquhart when Jay arrives (Anders Hayward), with his baby daughter in tow. He’s not exactly the youngster the teacher envisaged, but once Zara and the baby have left the room, the scene is set for one of the most inept attempted seductions in theatre history.
The black comedy here comes from people interacting in a situation at once surreal and believable. While it gives rise to some superbly funny lines and bits of stage business, not everything is played for laughs.
Each character has genuine needs that are not being met. Each has their boundaries and, despite the tacky setting, each has their dignity. The play may venture into some dark territory, but it does so with an open heart.
Runs until 27 August 2023 | Image: Contributed
