Despite songs and attitude, this preachy playground tale is no fun
Junkyard Bristol Old Vic
All credit to Jack Thorne for doing his bit to inspire a generation of youngsters to get into theatre by writing Harry Potter and the Cursed
Child. And much credit to his dad, Mike Thorne, who in the early Seventies did the youth of Bristol a favour by helping to build an adventure playground beside Lockleaze school (where one series of the Channel 4 sitcom Teachers was filmed). This rough-and-tumble “alternative” hangout, dubbed “The Vench”, was officially opened by John Cleese in 1972 and persists to this day.
Unfortunately, Junkyard, a musicstudded tribute to that site in particular and the post-war phenomenon in general, doesn’t really bring out the best in Thorne Jnr, or stir more than polite interest in Thorne Snr’s legacy. I have to confess that as a child of the Seventies, I tend to lump adventure playgrounds in with, say, the BBC’s Pebble Mill at One as best forgotten. But I was ready to be convinced this was where it was “at”.
I’m still waiting. The seven archetypally stroppy, gauche adolescents (played by actors glaringly older) that Thorne assembles are all retro dressed-up with nowhere to go, dramatically. The language is strong, the script weak – these “kids” sneer at Rick, a meek and mild teacher, before reluctantly mucking in to build the playground (after their mums are buttered up on the sly). In the second half, the playground faces the chop but, in the end, no one can bear to see it pulled down. “In here is the best of us,” they chorus in unison after two hours. End of lesson.
Bizarrely, given that Thorne shunts the action away from hippy-ish times, towards the nihilistic, punk-end of the decade, there’s scant reference to the turbulent, pre-Thatcher mood. The narky conversation tilts into coarsegrained song (score by Stephen Warbeck, performed by a trio of musicians on the side) but the music doesn’t get a grip on the youths’ emotional swings and roundabouts. Many lyrics sounded like they were scribbled on the back of a bus: “I’m building a thing. I’m the king of this thing,” Rick warbles. “It’s hard running a school / You’d think it’d be cool,” croons the headmaster. My adolescent daughter rolled her eyes.
I’m groping for positives, but in the spirit of “all must have prizes”, I’ll say the actors are good, especially Erin Doherty as Fiz. Chiara Stephenson’s set looks the part and there’s some effective use of flashlights. If it were much shorter, site-specific or more immersive, it might feel like a rushinducing shot in the arm. As it is, I’m afraid it’s eminently junkable.
Until March 18. Tickets: 0117 987 7877; bristololdvic.org.uk; then touring