Mojo by Jez Butterworth

MEET THE GANG: Howard Gossington as Skinny; James Puddephatt as Mickey;Paul Pariser as Baby; William Ely as Potts; and Justin Shevlin as Sweets

William Ely as Potts and Justin Shevlin as Sweets prove a formidable double act in Mojo, dominating its first half with quickfire dialogue and humour

A defiant, abused Baby (Paul Pariser) sqaures up to Mickey (James Puddephatt)

At The Dukes
Until Saturday 26 October 2002

Starring William Ely as Potts; Howard Gossington as Skinny; Andrew Moss as Silver Johnny; Paul Pariser as Baby; James Puddephatt as Mickey; and Justin Shevlin as Sweets

Directed by: Ian Hastings

THE PLOT
Set in 1950s Soho, a group of would-be entertainment entrepreneurs with petty crime connections find themselves in a gruesome murder mystery. Ezra, owner of The Atlantic, a second-rate rock and roll club, has been found dead. His motley crew of hired men are left to try and work things out -- but their greed, stupidity and fear of being killed make it difficult to think straight and to know who to trust.

WHAT’S IT LIKE? Savagely funny and told for the most part at an unrelenting pace, Mojo will certainly appeal to fans of Quentin (Reservoir Dogs) Tarrantino ­ but perhaps not those preferring characters you can identify with and more to the point, care about.

Mojo plunges theatre goers into a polyglot version of 1950s gangster life ­- a world where the up-and-coming Silver Johny performs nightly at the Atlantic club to a growing crowd of ecstatic teenagers. This is a world where life is fast and dangerous, spurred by pill popping and drink ­- and a world where the only way out soon turns out to severed in two and thrown in a dustbin.

Finding out who put club owner Ezra in the bin turns out to be just one thrust of this dark comedy, which the cast attack with relish and style. More interesting is Jez Butterworth’s attempt to get underneath the skins of his crazed characters, who all seem working lads thrown into good times and living it up with relish -- until things go wrong.

The cast prove more than accomplished in their respective roles. Strong language abounds, but the action never fails to hold, offering mesmerising performances from the likes of Wiliam Ely as Potts and especially Justin Shelvin as Sweets, who try and fail to make sense of what is happening in their twisted world. Paul Pariser is simply stunning as the psychopathic Baby, confronted with the death of his own father -- "There’s nothing like someone cutting your dad in two to clear your mind" -- but did he kill him? Throughout the play, only James Puddephatt’s ice-cool Mickey seems untouched by the sheer horror of Ezra’s murder -- but will his cool be broken?

This is no easy play to watch, and I have to say it isn’t a style of drama I enjoy watching. Only Skinny (brought to life in a fine performance by Howard Gossington), the youngest member of the gang, offers any empathy for the audience -- unhappy in his job, bullied and desperate to be loved, or even just wanted. The language, littered with 1950s gangster slang, is often hard to follow. But if good art is supposed to disturb then disturb Mojo does, on many levels.

Aside from what sounded like one anachronistic mention of Spider-Man (not created until 1962) this is a well-directed, powerful and well designed production of this award-winning play with a strong cast that brings it to dark, uneasy life.

Review by John Freeman

Mojo runs until Saturday 26 October
Box office: 01524 598500

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