Brighton Beach Scumbags Come to Islington

Over the years I have seen both great (French and Saunders) and terrible (a drunken Molly Parkin) shows at The King’s Head in Islington. This revival of 1994’s Brighton Beach Scumbags by East End playwright Steven Berkoff definitely resides towards the good end of the spectrum.

The stage is bathed in sunlight where two chav couples on deckchairs, girls in white sandals and boys in trainers and socks, have gone for a day trip to Brighton. This is yer typical working class British day at the seaside, the sort that we have seen eloquently captured in Martin Parr photographs, all special brew, fags, burgers, ketchup, chips and litter.

The play explores discomfort with the transformation of Brighton into a homosexual haven. The action is centred around the mutual incomprehension between two heterosexual couples and a gay couple in an open relationship.. One of the gay men says: ‘You know what they hate about us, the difference between us? Apart from the fact that they smell worse…’

His companion continues…’that they are trapped’.

For their part, the heterosexual couples, particularly overweight Dina (who claims her size is caused by ‘water retention’ and not the packets of Maltesers she scoffs), feel that the gay men look down on them. She is referred to as a ‘monster’ by one of the gay men, a culture that can over-value the aesthetic. But she has ‘given birth’ she wails, therefore how can they understand?

This piece pitches ‘breeder’ heterosexual culture against gay culture, and acutely observes class differences, with the gay men being aspirational middle class ‘Dinkies’ (Double Income No Kids). In the end this tension explodes in violence, with revenge for a dirty look given in a gay pub.

It’s a short piece lasting just under an hour, with witty direction by Berkoff devotee George Dillon, and good performances from all concerned, particularly the chav couples.

Brighton Beach Scumbags runs until 21 December
Kings Head Theatre
115 Upper Street
Islington
N1 1QN

Box office: 020 7226 1916