Vera Vera Vera review, Theatre Local

Vera Gin

Vera Vera Vera is a play about picking your fights. The use of language is extraordinary. Even the crudest, cruellest outbursts are poetic. As characters rage against the machine, each other and themselves, what crackles is not so much the plot - which is thin - but the energy of Hayley Squires' writing. Her debut demonstrates a real gift for exposing our inner demons and the lies we all tell in order to protect ourselves.

The action pivots around the death in action of Bobby. A dozy, drug-taking squaddie from a dysfunctional, benefits-dependent family, his heroic murder in Afghanistan momentarily transforms him into a romanticised role model against whom others measure their own value. The result is blistering rows between his siblings and his best friend, and problems at school for his young cousin - all spun together with reassuring snatches of songs from Vera Lynn, the Forces sweetheart.

The play has moved from the Royal Court Upstairs to Theatre Local off Peckham Rye, a street that is third world in look, feel and smell. This adds to the feeling of the lost England Vera's croonings exemplify. Jo McInnes directs a fine cast over sixty minutes, during which the grass that surrounds the wooden stage is steadily soiled with discarded bottles and cans, a totem of the spent dignity, respect and values once considered quintessentially English.

In conclusion: A compelling piece, the bleakness is offset by fabulous verbal rallies and a teen romance that offers hope for the future of the group. The story telling is on the money, even if the story itself needs more clarity.

References
Royal Court, Theatre Local, Ticket
Charles Spencer review in The Daily Telegraph