Review: CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT, Southwark Playhouse Borough
Photo credit: Marc Brenner
“The Tories are out, Robbie’s gone solo and we’ve just won the bloody Eurovision”. What a time to be alive. Maybe it won’t go down in the history books as a ‘summer of love’ but, through the eyes of a 16-year-old girl from Doncaster, 1997 is a blank canvas of limitless opportunity.
Children of the Night is a high-octane, pulsating journey through the sprawling, messy club scene of the late 90s. Part-kitchen sink drama, part-spoken word poetry, it is unflinchingly raw and hopefully nostalgic, in equal measure.
We meet Lindsay (played by Danielle Phillips) on GCSE results day and she’s done pretty well, actually - well, apart from an E in maths, but then she’s always been shite at maths. But she can leave all that in the past now. Breaking free from the shackles of state education, Lindsay is ready to make her mark on the world.
Although, as far as she’s concerned, the world starts and ends with Donny town centre, “Yorkshire’s very own Vegas”. Whether it’s snogging fellas up against the fruity in the Coach and Horses or blagging her way into the fabled Karisma nightclub, this is the only place in the world Lindsay wants to be right now. And she’s doing it all with her best mate - and fellow Spice Girls aficionado - Jen (Charlotte Brown).
Phillips, who also wrote this award-nominated play, gives a powerhouse performance as Lindsay. She is at the centre of everything, careering around the stage, embodying the chaos that is the dying embers of 90s nightlife. The deftness with which she moves from hysterically funny to unapologetically heartbreaking is just devastating.
Lindsay lives with her dad Tez (Gareth Radcliffe), who has raised her on his own. Their relationship is loving but complicated, with Radcliffe so acutely subtle in the role that Tez’s emotions are often conveyed with one fleeting look, rather than words.
As Lindsay grows more out of control, Tez is left wondering what is going on, summed up beautifully in a heated conversation about her missing Coronation Street - it’s OK, he taped it for her - and how they both view the fraught father-daughter relationship between Leanne and Les Battersby.
But it is Lindsay’s friendship with Jen that is the heartbeat of Children of the Night. Phillips and Brown are so genuine and believable as teenage besties. The mannerisms and rhythm of their conversation is spot on and brought to life brilliantly by director Kimberley Sykes, as well as movement director Jennifer Kay.
It is also worth mentioning the combination of set designer Hannah Sibai, Ben McQuigg on sound and Jessie Addinall on lighting to create a vibrant, immersive experience for the audience inside the tight confines at Southwark Playhouse Borough’s Little space.
The piece is bold, brassy and loud but never gets overwhelmed by nostalgia. In places, it is uncomfortable and brutal, refusing to shy away from societal issues of the day, specifically the UK’s first heterosexual HIV cluster and how it was covered by tabloid journalists.
Phillips’ performance as Lindsay personifies this love letter to working class culture. We need to see and hear more working class stories on our stages. In many ways, Children of the Night is the northern, female response to Alex Hill’s Why I Stuck a Flare Up My Arse for England and is deserving of similar levels of acclaim and success.
***** Five stars
Reviewed by: Tom Ambrose
