Ladies and Gents is an unusual experience: a seedy tale of blackmail and sexual corruption set in 1950's Ireland and performed in a public toilet. Semper Fi's production is not just imaginative in its choice of location: it is also an intriguing story presented by an excellent cast.
It's not often that you are close enough to touch and smell the actors in a play. Here, we are strictly ordered to line along the walls of the toilets and not permitted to move lest we obstruct the actors, who even brush past us at times. Standing with your back to a urinal for half an hour with the constant fear of slipping into the trench is a little disturbing, but fortunately the play takes your mind off it.
The audience is split into two groups - the company deliberately separate couples so you have different experiences and can compare notes later. Each group goes into either the Ladies or Gents toilets first and sees one half of the play, swapping around at half-time to see the rest. The events you witness in each half take place simultaneously and are cleverly interwoven - a scream you see in one half is heard in the other. This format allows some complex storytelling, but it is undermined a little by the fact that seeing one half is enough for you to deduce most of the story, so there is little revelation in the second. A more intricate script would have made more of this opportunity.
There are many clever devices which I can't reveal without giving away too much, but suffice to say the combination of the location and the superb acting makes for an exciting and involving experience. Even the dead-pan of the staff who usher you inside contributes to the atmosphere.
This play has received commendations wherever it has been performed and it is a real coup for the County Council Stages programme to bring it to Nottingham - don't miss your chance to see it. When did you last have this much fun in a public toilet?
Ladies and Gents is being performed at Trent Bridge Public Toilets until 16th October 2004
Check out our interview with writer Paul Walker here
Check out other theatre reviews by Adrian
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