Jerusalem: A play of fights, fares and furious f*****g

It begins conventionally enough. A girl, alone onstage, sings the classic hymn Jerusalem. Then mayhem. Heavy drum’n’bass blasts through the speakers as people in animal masks scatter about a woodland clearing.

A man is pushed off stage in a wheelbarrow. Two people burst out of a caravan and start making out. There are fights, fares and furious fucking.

So begins, Jerusalem, a play of contrasts. Johnny Rooster Byron, described as gypsy, magician, daredevil, Spiderman, thief and pervert, lives in a caravan in the woods in Wiltshire.

A motley crew of youths and not-so-youths hang around him, some for his drugs, some for his chat.

Underpinning the parties, brawls and games of trivial pursuit is the push and pull of an old, free pagan Englishness and the limp-wristed ‘ealth and safety fanatics at the Kennet and Avon council, that repeatedly try to evict Byron.

The on-point physicalisation of each character is one of the plays greatest strengths. Barney Fishwick as Johnny Byron is particularly good, managing to simultaneously limp and stride across stage with the balance of an animal. Tom Gaisford as Troy Whitworth plays the antagonist with a menacing stillness, that explodes each time a character irritates him.

This is not to forget that Jerusalem is a very, very funny play. Will Hislop plays Byron’s sidekick, Ginger Yates as a whiny, camp wannabe DJ who, whether he’s being hit on by a lusty professor or shouted at by Troy, is always comically awkward.

James Mooney as pub-owner Wesley dances a little gig that ‘connotes the sun god’s mastery over the infinite chaos of the galaxy’. Tasty.

To top off the first-rate acting is a impressive production team. Featuring a live band playing a very varied soundtrack (folk, dub, reggae, hymnal), pyrotechnics and even live animals, Jerusalem is set to impress.

From the production team and director, Will Felton, who brought you ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore and Endgame, this is not one to miss.