“Not everything doesn’t work” exhorts school head of department Zara near the beginning of Ed Viney’s comedic play.
Charlie Coldfield as Kris, Dan Gaisford as Rich and Monika Brodowska as Zara in Pot Licker | Photo © Stephen Jones
But history teacher Rich strongly disagrees, and when he and newbie maths teacher Kris stumble across a sports bag in lost property containing a stash of cocaine, an argument develops over whether this should be simply referred to the police or whether it could be used to financially benefit their failing school where most things, well, aren’t working.
This is the intriguing premise of Pot Licker, a new play by writer / director Ed Viney, which is premiering in a South West tour by Dorchester Arts, ending this week at Bath’s Ustinov Studio.
Viney uses this set-up as a suspenseful and frequently comedic springboard to explore tensions between colleagues, shifting moralities, the fragility of loyalty, and what makes teachers teach.
In its focus on three characters bound together (or torn apart) by a bleak, morally-dubious decision, it’s Shallow Grave in a school. With added staple gun.
The play keeps the audience hooked for its two-hour running time, pairing fresh revelations and twists with acerbic and occasionally surreal humour which leavens the increasingly dark tone.
Our loyalties shift from one character to another as we are forced to reflect on the inevitable “what would I do” question.
Viney the director keeps the energy snappy and the tension palpable, paring the production down to a basic table and chair around which the three teachers revolve as they fire linguistic and emotional darts at each other.
And he is well served by a cast which shares excellent chemistry and commitment. As teacher-in-charge Zara, Monika Brodowsky battles endlessly to smother her past secrets and indiscretions with a veneer of control and moral rectitude, using stillness as a mask for panic.
Charlie Coldfield as the teasing and flamboyant new teacher Kris is all playful movement and accents in Act One, but brings a fresh vulnerability and restraint to the second half of his story.
Perhaps most striking though is Dan Gaisford’s instinctive and deeply humane Rich, moving from angry anti-establishment teacher through flawed partner to self-loathing casualty with ease.
His melding of mercurial thinking, visceral gestures and restraint is reminiscent of Stephen Graham, making the comedic moments all the more earned.
This is a tense yet frequently laugh-aloud production which will appeal especially to thriller lovers and devious teachers, and is clearly imbued with a lot of heart.
A couple of brief aspects aside (namely an early sequence wherein characters speak directly to the audience in an otherwise traditional presentation, and perhaps an uncertain ending), this is a thoroughly engaging blend of caustic humour, suspense and frail humanity, and a memorable evening with three struggling characters who may or may not be us. Just watch out for the staple gun.
Pot Licker is showing at the Ustinov Studio Bath until 29th March.
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Reviewer: Steve Huggins
