I think it was half way through my meat pie, washed down with a rather large bottle of stout that I decided that I was sold on the whole set up. Okay, you’re probably thinking I am far too easily pleased but believe me, Paines Plough have concocted a winning formula. I certainly would not have described myself as a pie and stout girl beforehand.
Admittedly, food and drink at the theatre is no new concept. However, sitting down to a pie and pint whilst watching new British theatre at one of London’s most unusual theatre spaces, all for £10, is. It is a rare delight.
Crazy Love, one of four plays featured within the play, pie, pint series is a fast paced tale of unlikely romance and modern day relationships. Written by, actor, writer and director Che Walker, the play begins in a burst of song as three women, dressed in wedding attire, enter the space.
After an uncomfortable feeling of uncertainty, I try to decide whether or not the performers are singing out of key on purpose. The girls attempt to jazz up the tune by harmonising and the whole audience erupts into a fit of laughter.
From then on it is hard to stop laughing as Billie, Shiv and Coredellia tell of a bizarre love match between middle-class dreamer Billie and a mysterious drug dealer described as arriving straight out of the murky depths of London’s criminal underworld.
Although engaged and about to wed another, Billie swears it’s love, she can’t help but feel like ‘princess Di’ whilst the new love of her life sweeps her off her feet and into a crazy journey. The pair flee amidst bullets fired by a rival dealer.
As a play it is entertaining and satisfying.
Walker, well known for his exploration of class within contemporary Britain, pokes fun at typical social stereotypes and you can’t help but sit and laugh at the characters on show. The performers do a great job comically delivering Walker’s witty and fluid dialogue. The characters complement each other and as the play progresses the sincerity of the women’s friendships come under as much scrutiny as the central romance.
“I do. And I do still have the bullet,” remarks Billie. Stood in her wedding dress with a phantom groom at her side she is finally forced to choose between her fiancé and her soul mate.
Surely, if the theatre was great, the pie surprisingly good and the pint generously sized then there had to be some form of disappointment to readdress the balance? Well, no, the ticket even included free access to the Shunt lounge and bar afterwards.
If you didn’t have a chance to catch one of the four plays on show at the Shunt Vaults (you should have, we ran it a news story on it earlier this month giving you plenty of time) then you missed a real bargain and a humorous performance.
Hopefully Paines Plough are hard at work planning the next series of plays because they’ve found the perfect combination, attracting audiences and showcasing new theatre.
