The Night Collar cabbie pulls in to St Helens Theatre Royal this week, and fans of raw, close to the knuckle humour are in for a treat. This is a play that sets out its stall in the pre-show announcement, which, in as many words, tells the audience that if they are offended then it’s doing its job right. The response to this announcement suggests that they are up for it, and they aren’t disappointed.
Much of Tony Furlong and Jimmy Powers’ text reads and plays like a stand-up comedy set peppered with sketches, so it is a great vehicle (pun absolutely intended) for John May, who is very much at home delivering dryly observed wit in this manner.
Director Chantelle Joseph capitalises on May’s strength as a solo comedian, giving him plenty of free reign to make his dialogue feel off the cuff, whilst tailoring the text to include a mixture of St Helens specific locations amongst the original panoply of Liverpool City Centre references (and Fingerpost is always good for a laugh).
It is Christmas Eve, and our long-suffering hackney driver is about to embark on one of the most loathed shifts in the business. There may well still be Christmas cheer being spread in the clubs but, by the time they hit the streets and look for a cab home, the seasonal revellers are full of something else. One by one, or two by two, they jump, clamber or fall into the back of his taxi and we just know that in one way or another they are going to give him grief.
If he says “I can do without this” once, he says it a thousand times, as he deals with everything from a brawling couple to a pair of malingerers, and from a lady of the night (quite literally all fur coat and no knickers) to a hapless victim of a stag do (left with nothing but a ball and chain to cover his long-lost modesty). The Elvis impersonator of previous productions of the play seems to have found himself consigned to the editing room waste-basket.
Among a supporting cast of four who each take on multiple roles, Sam Jones-Arthur is the best chameleon of the lot, his Big Issue seller, drunken partygoer, and naked groom-to-be being punctuated by repeated appearances of a Scottish wino, who tries his luck at cadging a quid one time too many.
Of his various parts, John O’Gorman gets the best mileage out of a blind man in an elf costume, accompanying a suspiciously agile wheelchair user. The occupant (and occasional carrier) of said wheelchair is played by Jenna Sian O’Hara, here decked in a wig and glasses that give her a look of Mrs Merton. O’Hara also appears, among other parts, as the prostitute who tries to barter her services in lieu of cab fare, as well as one of a couple of clubbers. Emma-Grace Arends, meanwhile, gets to take on the two more serious foils to the raucous comedy. “At least you’ve got your health” chirps the cabbie, as she climbs wearily into the back sobbing, only to have his eye wiped when she reveals that she is dying of cancer. Later, Arends reappears as a widow whose husband was a carbon copy of our own cabbie, and who was found slumped dead over his wheel after a heart attack. This turns out to be the bitter end for our intrepid hero, who decides there and then that it’s time to throw in the towel.
Originally written as a studio-scale work with just a cutaway hackney cab on stage, here at the Theatre Royal the cab sits in front of a backdrop on which a series of video projections hint at the changing scenery. The effect of this is rather lost, as the cloth on which they are projected already shows a static, painted street scene that resembles a panto set, and the atmosphere of a Christmas Eve in the city might have been more effectively conveyed if the setting had been more abstract.
Running at a swift hour and forty minutes, including interval, the show paces itself well and keeps the audience solidly entertained. It is fun looking out for the pockets of recognition in the house where there are cab drivers agreeing with what they are seeing on stage, and anyone who has found themselves in the city centre late on any Saturday evening will be familiar with all the archetypes on display.
Note that this show is marketed as ‘adult’ humour, and the rider is there for a reason – if you’re offended by strong language or saucy references then this may well not be for you, but the show was certainly connecting well with its opening night Saturday crowd. It plays at St Helens Theatre Royal until 5th October, with tickets available here.
Star Rating 3 stars
The cast of Night Collar - Picture by David Munn
This review was originally written for publication by Good News Liverpool
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