review theatre: Reality Chokes | Pentameters | Four young men with nihilistic ideals stick two fingers up at the corporate establishment of 1970s Britain and form a Punk band

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The Review - THEATRE by REBECCA FIELDING
Published: 29 May 2008

Camden theatre| Pentameters review| Reality Chokes | 1970s Britain | Punk Rock

REALITY CHOKES
Pentameters

FOUR young men with nihilistic ideals stick two fingers up at the corporate establishment of 1970s Britain and form a Punk band – Sonic Generation.
The years pass, and
reality and middle age strike, leaving the sex, drugs and rhythm of the bass guitar simmering below a surface of vanishing ambitions. The call of “one last gig” still lingers, forcing a few home truths to the surface.
Plod (David Kennedy), ex-punk-cum-city slicker-cum-father-for-justice orchestrates this less than happy gathering.
Vehemently against the reunion is Dan (Al Gregg) – deeply troubled by his wife Chrissie’s (Isabel Scott-Plummer) romantic history with the lead singer Rob (David Schaal).
Gregg is earnest and persuasive in his performance – fixated with suspicion, fuelled by jealousy yet quietly consumed by the lure of the stage. Hanging on the arm of Rob is the twentysomething blonde student Tricia (Miranda Hennessy) – a gentle reminder of exactly how Reality Chokes as it’s revealed it was her father who was the fan and she’s just walking in history’s footsteps – merely humouring the overweight over-keen Rob.
The fourth member of the band is John, a drug addict drummer, stuck choking on the highs and lows of the good old days – too far gone to ever return for longer than a few months sober and a drum solo here and there.
This seemingly defunct group play loud and argue louder but time has done little to mellow the extremes they feel about each other or their music.
A truly remarkable cast stand before us – directed by the adept hand of Chris Dury – as their story is told through lyrics and guitar rifts.
Comic moments saturate the play, made only funnier by the wobble of four middle-aged men as they let go of their past watched by the rolling eyes of two truly modern women.
Graced by the Bard-like Kevin Golding, we are welcomed with melodic rhyme and released back on to the cobbled streets of Hampstead awake with the sound of punk ringing in our ears.
Until May 31
020 7435 3648

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