Lyric, Hammersmith (studio)
14 October 2016 (released)
17 October 2016
Sean Holmes directs the first major revival of Mark Ravenhill’s 90’s hit, Shopping and F***ing at the Lyric Hammersmith and he’s consciously ramped up the spectacle, engaging the audience directly and playfully whilst developing themes that remain acutely relevant twenty years on.
Everything is for sale in Homes production – both set and cast are decked with fluorescent price tags and we are complicit from the moment we walk in, hustled by the cast to buy badges and offered an upgrade on our seats with a five pound bottle of cava and a Mars Bar, all for five pounds. (theatre-news couldn’t resist that offer).
The plot is simple though feels fragmented. Mark (played by Sam Spruell) decides to leave his two flatmates, boyfriend Robbie (Alex Arnold) and unemployed actress Lulu (Sophie Wu) to check into rehab. They end up trying to sell ecstasy and then their bodies on video-cams and Mark soon returns with Gary, and underage rent-boy he’s got involved with despite his determination to make sure their encounter is merely a financial transaction.
In this revival, characters and set appear to be permanently heightened into a drug induced hyper-reality, where everything glows too brightly, everyone shouts too loudly and gesticulates too wildly. Giant screens dominate the stage and ironic use of karaoke, ‘slow dance breaks’ and ‘ecstasy interludes’, provide light relief from what is in some ways a relentless interpretation of a very dark comedy.
Ashley McGuire who plays Brian the bullying drug-dealer/ philosopher strikes the perfect balance of venom and humour in her white suit and slick back hair and Robbie’s visionary moment when pilling at a club is truly euphoric with the help of giant screens and ‘The Shamen.’
It’s not an easy play to watch as Ravenhill’s character’s furiously sell themselves, getting caught in repeatedly destructive transactions that spiral towards the horrifyingly violent climax. At times this hyper-real interpretation lacks heart yet there are moments of light that make for an evening that is both unsettling and entertaining.
