The Revengers
Pomegranate Theatre, Chesterfield
Take a frustrated actress and her equally frustrated wheelchair-bound husband, both hounded by a sleazy loan shark looking for a £5,000 debt in cash or kind, and you have the recipe for a depressing night at the theatre. It reads like one of those creaky black and white kitchen sink dramas on the old BBC Play for Today, dark, grim and menacing. But The Revengers, thankfully, is nothing of the kind. Ed Waugh and Trevor Wood have written a snappy comedy using serious ingredients and achieving one of the best humorous plays I have ever seen.
It tells the story of Katy Dream, once a television sex symbol as Gemma Peel, a leather-clad, crime-busting, martial arts heroine in a show called “The Revengers”, but now, long after her stardom has faded, she is driven by necessity to work as a sales girl in supermarkets promoting, among other things, vegetables while dressed as a carrot. Her acting days seem to be over. Her husband Jimmy is confined to a wheelchair following an accident at the docks and, unable to find much work, he fills his days by training for road races, making strange soup combinations (Guinness and beetroot, winkles), lavishing praise on Fidel Castro and working as “the oldest paper boy in the West”. The marriage is strained, but hanging together.
Out of the blue, Katy gets the opportunity to audition for the role of Portia in a production of The Merchant of Venice. Jimmy dampens her enthusiasm, but she remains determined to seize this chance to reignite
her acting career. He has his own dreams to see out the rest of his days in his beloved Cuba.
The arrival of a loan shark, Gary (“smarmy twat”), looking for the repayment of money, unsettles Katy and soon he wheedles and needles his way into their life, schmoozing with her and ridiculing Jimmy. The story moves along at a pace and offers enjoyable plot surprises as the three characters spar with each other, keeping us guessing how it will all end. It concludes beautifully.
From the outset, the audience is involved, as Katy and Jimmy confide their innermost thoughts directly to the auditorium. We end up caring about them in different ways, because they care about each other.
Patric Kearns has directed this wonderful play with supreme confidence, taking the drama of the situation and blending it with elements of farce and moments of serious reflection, deftly choreographing the action around a deceptively simple set and expertly encouraging excellent performances from the cast.
George Telfer (Jimmy) gives a hilarious, authentic portrayal as the gruff husband, making his behaviour likeable and appalling in almost equal measure. Sam Clemens (Gary) carries off the wide-boy charmer with a twinkle in his eye and a sharp tongue, sometimes with chilling ease. But, if it was a competition between the actors, all of whom give outstanding performances, Katie Bonna has the edge in her portrayal of Katy. She is magnificent as the play’s central focus. She moves around the stage with assurance and holds the audience’s attention and affection throughout. It is a genuine tour de force and, if there is any justice in the theatrical world, she will be blessed with a long and distinguished career.
Ed Waugh and Trevor Woods have crafted an extraordinary dramatic comedy – sometimes light in touch, sometimes dark in depth but wholly entertaining on a number of levels. It is a shining example of great theatre and should not be missed.
Joe Cushnan
