TEECHERS

Corn Exchange, Dorchester

IT’S loud, it’s riotous, it’s hilariously funny but it is 30 years old, so is this play set in a comprehensive school in the 1980s now out of date?

The answer is definitely not, John Godber’s comic genius has produced a play that is as relevant today as it was when it was written, focussing as it does on the mistaken notion that the arts are unimportant in the development of the minds of the young.

In this Blackeyed Theatre production, the scenario begins with pop music from the 1990s, gradually moving to the present day as the three actors take to the stage in a variety of roles who show us how a new drama teacher deals with his outrageous pupils and difficult colleagues who regard him as a waste of time.

With never a second to spare, the actors on the bare stage with a minimalist set, make the most of their ever-changing roles as bullies, sex mad students, fun-loving boys and loud-mouthed idiots to name but a few.

But into this playground of teenage chaos, the message remains clear, namely that drama tuition means learning about ourselves and about other people, something that Godber understands better than most of us.

This Adrian McDougall production featuring Jake Addley, Nicole Black and Rosalind Seal brings energy, laughter and innovation to a comedy that sends out a powerful message of youthful pleas for creative learning at all levels of society. Long may it continue.

MARION COX