Ibiza ... Thirty Years On
“Are you honestly still pissed off about what happened thirty years ago?”
Michael
Set in Ibiza, thirty years after a memorable time there, three fifty year olds come back to their original budget hotel room. “Room 547, Stairway to Heaven.” The room has changed very little: same balcony view over the pool, same Picasso print on the wall, same twin beds locked together and same painted wardrobe that they once shut Dev (Neil D’Souza) in.
Initially we meet Chris (Peter Bramhill) who has brought his travelling guitar and who is there to celebrate his fiftieth birthday. He is soon joined by Dev (played by playwright Neil D’Souza) and together they share their memories of half a century before with often hilarious humour.
They look down longingly at the crowd at the swimming pool of 20 somethings, fit girls in swimming costumes, shouting and laughing and enjoying themselves which Harry Blake’s soundscape gives us echoes of in their room. The play is a requiem for their lost youth.
With beautifully written characterisations by D’Souza, Chris is excited about the reunion and optimistic and Dev is full of self analysis and disappointment. His holiday reading is Death in Venice ! We hear Mahler’s music, the theme of that film. They talk about the girls they pulled in Portinarx and Chris says, “Mine had a neck brace, which was a bit weird.” Dev shares that he never felt confident with women, unlike the other two.
Dev goes to sleep but Chris goes out to explore. In the next scene Chris comes creeping back with Holly (Kerry Bennett) who gets into bed in the dark without realising Dev is there. The banter continues as Chris and Dev compete for the vivacious Holly. A message comes from Michael saying he is delayed. Holly’s roommate Amy (Catrin Aaron) joins the party and gets on with one of the men.
In Act Two, the long awaited Michael (James Hillier) arrives which changes the dynamic of the three men with his veneer of career success; the bonhomie giving way to less happy memories.
It was music and university which had brought them together and Dev who is now a university lecturer broke the band up, after the Ibiza trip and gigs, when he won a music scholarship abroad. The complexity of Michael’s character creates conflict among the three and moves towards a much darker ending. Several of the cast sing, sometimes the band remembering their songs and Chris and Amy harmonising on their song “Out of Season” and “The House of the Rising Sun.”
Out of Season is beautifully constructed, well cast with excellently nuanced performances and direction from Alice Hamilton. I really want to see more stellar writing craft from Neil D’Souza and I urge you not to miss this gem of a play in Hampstead’s Downstairs space.
Production Notes
Out of Season
Written by Neil D’Souza
Directed by Alice Hamilton
Cast
Starring:
Peter Bramhill
Catrin Aaron
James Hillier
Kerry Bennett
Neil D’Souza
Creatives
Director: Alice Hamilton
Composers and Lyricists:
Gil Cang, Neil D’Souza
and Matt Sutton
Designer: Janet Bird
Movement Director: Sarah Walton
Lighting Designer: Matt Haskins
Sound Director: Harry Blake
Fight Director: Kev McCurdy
Information
Running Time: Two hours including an interval
Booking to 23rd March 2024
Theatre:
Hampstead Theatre
Eton Avenue
Swiss Cottage
Tube: Swiss Cottage
Reviewed
by Lizzie Loveridge at
Hampstead Theatre Downstairs
on 22nd February 2024