Theatre Review - Road

Jim Cartwright’s seminal play about the disenfrachised working class living in Thatcherite Britain in an unnamed Lancashire town has lost none of its power. Loneliness and poverty are the play’s pervasive themes and many of the characters use alcohol and sex as crutches to stave off despair.

Road was first produced at the Royal Court in 1986 and the reasons for its revival are clear in John Tiffany’s imaginative production – there is much that resonates with Austerity and post- Brexit Britain.

Lemn Sissay, as the wily Scullery, is a charismatic narrator who over the course of one night leads us down his local street to meet the various residents. Cartwright combines just the right measure of anarchic humour with more thoughtful scenes and the cast rise to the occasion.

Some of the action takes place in a transparent glass box which rises up from the belly of the stage. This emphasises that we are privileged outsiders looking in at others’ lives, but then the lighting changes and mirrored doors reflect the audience, reminding us of our shared humanity.

Many of the characters numb the frustration of their lonely existence with binge-drinking and casual sex. One of the most memorable scenes in the play is when a tanked up, middle-aged women, (Michelle Fairley), attempts to seduce a soldier (Mike Noble), much younger than herself, who is so drunk he is sick in his chips.

Road evidently helped pave the way for the in-yer-face theatre of the 1990s and TV series like Shameless. It’s great to see a large cast outside the West End and this is a joyful and timely revival.

Originally published by The Camden Review