REVIEW: £1 Thursdays at Finborough Theatre until 22 December 2023

‘an adrenaline ride through some Bradford Good Times’ ★★★ ½

Kat Rose-Martin has written a love-letter to the soul sisters who miss-spent their youth in Bradford’s Club Ocean a decade ago, footloose and fancy free, and possibly, according to circumstance and inclination, familiar with the ups and downs of contracting STDs. The ST part is by and large fun, the D part less so. Ms. Rose-Martin looks back fondly on the Bradford club scene of a decade ago, but she isn’t looking back through rose-tinted sunnies; she sees it for the ride it was, formative, valuable, but sometimes rough.

Jen and Stacey are young women out on the lash, exploring life, love, and banging dance tracks. They have varying degrees of support at home, but a constant sustaining mateship that lets them weather the roughest storms. Until Jen begins to realise that she’s really smart, and that education might offer her different experiences from Club Ocean. Different but still vital. Stacey, on the other hand, hooks up with the man of her dreams who turns out to be a baddun, and has to re-fashion her dreams of a future when she gets free of him.

The writing is rich and vibrant, full of Bradford slang and club argot. Previously I didn’t know what a slut-drop was, and I know now. The two girls are played by Yasmin Taheri and Monique Ashe-Palmer with all the fizz and sparkle of a bottle of well-shaken Lambrini, and a powerful change of gears to deliver the harsher moments. They are very well supported by Sian Breckin and Joseph Ayre in a variety of roles. It’s a bit too long, a shade repetitive, and the simple set is versatile but slightly distracting. We never saw the seedy glamour of the club’s interior, and maybe that’s a loss.

Mostly, though, an adrenaline ride through some Bradford Good Times, a bunch of cracking performances, and a handy guide to dance club moves from 2012.

£1 THURSDAYS

by Kat Rose-Martin

Tuesday, 28 November - Friday, 22 December 2023

Finborough Theatre

Bookings https://finboroughtheatre.co.uk/production/1-thursdays/

Reviewed by Chris Lilly