Review: Punk Rock

Described by writer Simon Stephens as “History Boys on crack”, I went into Punk Rock with a sense of trepidation. The play takes place in an upstairs common room of a private school in Manchester suburb, Stockport, and revolves around the lives of seven sixth form students as they prepare for their exams. This, however, seems to be where the similarities between Alan Bennett’s play and Stephens’ end.

For the duration of the first act, nothing much happens. New girl Lily (played by Sarah Cotterill) meets William (Oliver Dickens), and the two play out a tentative game of mid-school flirtations alongside the strapping Nicholas (Tom Giles). We also meet brash, loud-mouthed Bennett (played by Oliver Brassell), his girlfriend Cissy (Emma Lane) and her friend Tanya (Kate Wilson). The character of Chadwick (Steven Jeram) is a bit of an outcast, bullied by Bennett and more interested in the futility of human life than getting on with other people. Yet all the while there is an undeniable tension building beneath the surface of the action, whether it’s through Chadwick’s monologues about nuclear bombs or Bennett’s violent and unpredictable temper.

In Act two, this tension comes to a head, erupting in an action; action that would be unexpected if I didn’t know this was a Simon Stephens play. Typically dark, his work seems to revel in an in-yer-face style of dialogue, relying heavily on a fast back-and-forth that I felt the actors sometimes struggled to keep up with. Yet overall, the cast performed admirably, with stand-out performances from Wilson (Tanya) and Dickens (William). Both actors managed to toe the line between being highly dramatic and also maintaining a sense of realism, something that I felt was difficult with the script.

Similarly to Motortown, it was the set that really made the play extraordinary. Ostensibly set in a common room, the floor was bare except for a single table and five plastic chairs, allowing room for the actors to move around, particularly during the high-octane scene changes. Yet despite the sparse stage, the set was defined enough to make it clear that the play took place in a common room; with a bookshelf hanging from the ceiling and a smashed window with shards of glass falling from it – possibly foreshadowing the violence to come. Each of the character’s school bags was also hung upside down from the ceiling, with items representing the character falling from them and lit from above. It was subtle, but very well executed.

Overall, director Joe Lichtenstein and producers Olivia Broadbent and Alex Baldry did a brilliant job with Punk Rock, taking a challenging script and turning what could have been a dull two hours into a thrilling experience.