John Godber has increasingly moved away from fast-paced, full-body contact theatre in favour of a wistful, more introspective style. His 50th play marks a back-to-basics approach, however, with the return of burly blokes knocking lumps out of one another.
In fact, it is hard to believe that Godber hasn't written about wrestling before. The difficulty he faces is coming up with something you don't feel you've seen already.
It's evidently been something of a struggle. The play has undergone at least one change of title, and deviates from the brochure copy. Godber opts to use the play as a platform to defend the integrity of theatre, and decry the lowbrow decadence of celebrity culture.
Impoverished flatmates Jeff and Jack are patently unemployable actors who resolve to abandon art and throw in their lot with the razzmatazz of all-in wrestling.
Godber appears to be making a point about compromised ideals: Jeff (Matthew Booth) despises himself for selling out, while Jack (Jack Brady) despises the crowds who come and see them. Nor is he slow to remind people that he - like Godber - holds a PhD in German expressionist theatre.
It's an interesting debate, though it seems slightly churlish to subject one's audience to sniffy orations about their failure to understand the semiotics of performance, even in jest.
But, ultimately, the grappling isn't very gripping. Godber has built a reputation on devising cleverly choreographed representations of sport on stage. But celebrity wrestling is so choreographed to begin with that it's virtually impossible to recreate the excitement. Everyone knows that the outcome of the contest is fixed: there's a suggestion here that Godber may simply be going through the motions.
· Until July 30. Box office: 01482 323638.
