As delicious as a surreptitious binge on chips with a fizzy drink followed by chocolate, Theatre West’s latest offering is bursting with witty quips and brave self-mockery. Playwright Tim Massey has produced a wee gem of a play, set at the Edinburgh Festival and reflecting the traumatic world of the performing arts in contemporary Britain. It also strongly showcases the talent of actor Simon Winkler. This hour-long choppy little play opens with a well designed 'student pad', as yet again Theatre West provides a great stage set within the confined space of pub theatre. The plot revolves around a young playwright, John Lomas, who has indebted himself in order to take his newly written play to Edinburgh. However, a rival Bristol playwright has also brought a play to the festival and is enjoying considerable critical acclaim. Interplaying with this story of artistic jealously are the characters of the overpowering director, Paul, played by Simon Winkler and the stage manager, Emily, played by Jo Lancastle. Scene change snags The only snag in this production is with the scene changes. The first rule of the stage is 'never leave the stage bare' during the show. It was a great shame that some of the scene changes were a little too long.
Aside from that, this show is one of the best Theatre West has performed at The Alma Tavern. Simon Winkler is outstandingly good. He is ominous and threatening as the covertly gay director. He is hilariously funny in an argument about lighting cues during which he does a quick striptease - much to the audience’s delight! Overall he shows wonderful versatility, moving from anger to comedy in one breath. Paul Mundell shines in the scene where human jealousy is explored and the catalogue of contemporary references peppered throughout the dialogue help create empathy with the desperate playwright. Theatre West’s directors, Alison Comley and Ann Stiddard deserve full credit for presenting brand new writing which is contemporaneous and as such will intrigue future generations. Tim Massey’s play is extremely well written and the actors do full justice to the high quality of the writing. Above all, it is a great way to spend an hour in a pub environment and support this dynamic repertory company, which is such a major opportunity for Bristol actors and playwrights. | 
