Sex, scrabble, suburbia. The loneliness, lust, loss and longing of our suburban lives have long fascinated writers, artists, playwrights, filmmakers and sociologists. Suburban blues it’s been labelled. It has provided the material for dozens of novels, movies, plays, songs and sociological studies over the decades. No surprise then that Jez Butterworth, actually Jeremy, a classic suburban name of course, mined this seam in his 2008 play Parlour Song. The parlour was the front room kept for Sunday best, long since made obsolescent by the open plan kitchen diner. Wonderfully revived for us at the little-known but excellent Golden Goose Pub Theatre in Camberwell, south London. It’s a darkly satirical black comedy focusing on two couples living in a Barrett Homes-type standard model estate just outside the M25. By turns funny, dark, and disturbing, this one-act, three-hander, 90 minutes straight through with no interval (my favourite format) is engaging, entertaining and enlightening.
We see Ned (David Houston) and Dale (Paul Boichat) in a cage-like structure boxed in and confined. This is a metaphor clearly. They are trapped. Ned and Dale are next-door neighbours. Ned is married to Joy (Jo Nevis) and Dale is married to Linda. We never see Linda. So the play is in fact that classic of literature: the ménage a trois. (This is made explicit when Ned sings Eric Clapton’s version of “Layla”). Ned the most troubled (being bald doesn’t help matters) of the three is a demolition expert who travels the country blowing up buildings. But it’s not just buildings he’s blowing up. He’s slowly but surely blowing up himself. But he can’t complain because to do so would jeopardise his job so he internalises his pain. Again, another suburban intractable dilemma: to complain is to risk losing one’s place in the promised land. He turns to the usual suburban remedies; getting fit, pills, barbecues, and self-help manuals. The scene where he acts out the sex advice from his American coach on how to perform cunnilingus is a comic delight.
As he is away on overnight stays Joy (her name is of course deeply ironic) and Dale get it together. Joy’s costume is a play in itself. She has a bob, the haircut of choice for suburban housewives. She has a corset and rhinestone sox to suggest her bodily imprisonment and a plastic transparent apron to hammer home the message that she’s a domestic drudge. The lyrics to The Jam’s hit “Private Hell” sum up Ned and Joy’s joyless marriage: “The man that you once loved is bald and fat / And seldom in working late as usual / On the occasions he lies upon you, you lie back and think of nothing but private hell“.
Dale is full of himself, thinks he’s god’s gift and a bit of a Jack the Lad. In fact, he runs a car wash employing Kosovan illegal non-tax paying workers. A hint at the economic underbelly of the suburban dream? He betrays Ned’s friendship and exploits his vulnerabilities to enjoy Joy, as it were.
Joy finds herself in the Wendy Craig sitcom Butterflies. That is overwhelmed with ennui, boredom and frustration. Like Ria Parkinson in Butterflies, she initiates an encounter with a potential lover. This happens at one of Ned’s barbecues. The scene in which she seduces Dale via a request for a lemon to make a G&T is superbly done. This being a suburban affair it takes place during games of Scrabble. She and Dale indulge in sexual fantasies straight out of Fifty Shades of Grey territory. But comically undermined by the everyday interruptions of suburban life. There is no escape seems to be the message.
In the end, all three characters are unfulfilled. Joy’s dreams of escape are just as unrealistic as Ned’s getting his hair back or losing weight or Dale’s leaving Linda. Most people lead lives of quiet desperation in their own private hell.
With very few resources the cast, crew and creatives from Drama Impact have put together a satisfying suburban satire that is recognisable, poignant and thought-provoking. Highly recommended.
Review by John O’Brien
A blackly comic exploration of deceit, paranoia and desire in leafy suburbia from multi-award winning playwright Jez Butterworth (The Ferryman, Jerusalem, Mojo).
Demolition expert Ned lives in a nice new house on a nice new estate on the edge of the English countryside. He loves his job. Barbecues. Car-boot sales. His life is entirely unremarkable, just like for his friend and neighbour, Dale.
So why has Ned not slept in six months? Why is he so scared of his wife, Joy? And why do his prized possessions keep disappearing?
PARLOUR SONG
Golden Goose Theatre, 146 Camberwell New Road, London SE5 0RR
19 to 30 November 2024
