Review of Loft Theatre Company production of Brighton Beach Scumbags (2009)

It’s a relentless, battering assault on the senses and the eardrums. It does not spare the sensitive or the faint-hearted.

Steven Berkoff at his most outrageous has the delicacy of a stampeding buffalo, flattening all in its path with gleeful abandon. To bring the work of this barnstorming bruiser of a writer to a small theatrical space is no small achievement, and Roy Donoghue’s production nails it through a virtuoso display of coarse loud-mouthery and wild hilarity, while thinly veiled violence waits in the wings.

Incredibly, under the abrasive outer shell, lies a morality tale. He who shouts, swears, harasses and victimises the most will get his come-uppance in possibly the most eye-watering manner.

Jonathan Howes and Craig Shelton let fly with gusto as the scumbags polluting the sunny beach with their manic outbursts. Howes in particular scores as an updated form of Alf Garnett, shouting the odds and oozing prejudice and intolerance. As with old Alf, we laugh at him while wincing with shame at his attitudes and his vicious down-putting of two gay lovers who stray into his path.

The raw comedy is only a breath away from the underlying sadness of the characters, and a semblance of soul-saving is afforded by the conciliatory if simplistic nature of good-hearted Doreen, in a delicious performance by Emmie Spencer.

The piece can only really work by not stopping for breath or trying to analyse, and this is certainly achieved by actors and director who simply never let up. Along the way, effective use is made of puppets and musical selections which, apart from an overlong track at the opening, enhance the mood.

This sandstorm will take some time to settle.

Star rating: ****

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Peter McGarry is an experienced, independent professional theatre critic who has agreed to review Loft Theatre Company productions.

The agreement with the Loft is that Peter is free to express his opinions for good or ill. The Loft Theatre Company has no control whatsoever over the content of these reviews and will never comment publicly on what he writes.