Pop Music – Hull Truck Theatre

Writer: Anna Jordan

Director: Mark Babych

We’ve all been there. At a wedding, as the one without a ‘plus’. And so too are Kayla (Natalie Anderson) and G (David Ahmad) alone at the wedding of friends, when they find themselves reunited on the dance-floor.

It may be the loneliness, it may be the nostalgic tunes, it may be the alcohol, but as these two lose themselves in the soundtrack of their lives, they find each other, and find themselves reconnecting through their difficult past experience.

As the music rolls out from the Spice Girls, The Killers, The Verve to Simply Red, the audience is taken on a time-traveling journey through the pulsating heartbeats of pop music.

An uncluttered dance floor stage proves to be the perfect canvas for the performance, and Anderson and Ahmed masterfully exploit every inch of it as they reminiscence and share their stories. The tightly directed execution makes their dance-floor antics appear convincingly spontaneous.

The dialogue is fast and snappy, sometimes delivered in verse, occasionally competing with the music, much like shouting across a crowded nightclub. Kayla and G dance and jump around with a ferocious energy, some of the funniest moments of the play are found in their chaotic mayhem.

Pop Music is written by Anna Jordan, a 2013 Bruntwood Prize winner known for her play Yen. Originally penned for Paines Plough, Pop Music premiered in 2018.

While there is much energy and humour in this show, it doesn’t shy away from more challenging topics like relationship breakdown, identity, loss and trauma. The exploration of these themes manages to strike a perfect balance between poignancy and laughter.

In a world that sometimes feels fragmented and distant, Pop Music reminds us of the unifying power of music. It is an invitation to dance, reminisce, and reflect on the connection between music and those important life moments and memories.

This production is a celebration of the songs that have soundtracked our lives and left an indelible mark on our hearts. Pop Music is a joy to watch, that will leave you with a heart full of hope.

Runs Until 28th October 2023