Jerusalem

Next Stage

The Mission Theatre, Bath

This play was a smash hit in both London and New York and astonishingly it has come to Bath within a couple of weeks of finishing its run in the West End.

Critics raved about the play and theatregoers queued all night for a chance of return tickets for the final performance.

Perhaps they won't go quite that far in Bath but such is the buzz surrounding Jerusalem that most tickets for its five-night run at the Mission Theatre had already sold by Tuesday's opening night.

Next Stage's Tim Evans is magnificent as Rooster, the hard-drinking, pill-popping anarchic Romany who lives in the woods in a village in Wiltshire. If he had any fears about following so soon in the footsteps of Mark Rylance, the actor who received such acclaim for the role in London, it didn't show.

Tim Evans has more than made the part his own.

He becomes Johnny Rooster Byron, the larger than life character like some modern Lord of Misrule, weaving his magic with merry mayhem, a touch of violence and tall tales for the underage drinkers who flock to him.

Think of the eviction of the travellers at Dale Farm, the London riots, the wild abandon of summer festivals, and then you have some idea of the opposing societal forces at work in this play – but to this mix you must add a huge dollop of humour.

The author Jez Butterworth puts many different attitudes under the microscope but leaves the audience to decide whose side they are on for themselves.

Meanwhile, the action revolves around Rooster during the course of one day in spring, the threads of each character's stories weaving in and out as though he were a strange maypole in the woodland grove.

Evans is supported by a fine cast, with Mike James as Davey and Tom Ash-Miles as Lee both excellent.

Steve Leanaghan does a very funny turn as the Morris-dancing landlord and Brian Howe makes a very believable old gent with dementia, pepped up on acid given to him by Rooster.

The girls – Camilla Watson as Tanya and Lydia Cook as Pea – play their parts with typical strutting and giggling adolescent attitude, while Poppy Harrison is charming as the lost girl Phaedra, symbolic of dreams coming to an end.

Andrew Ellison as Rooster's friend Ginger is good as the bumbling hanger-on who misses the party.

The set of a woodland grove is excellent and Ann Garner's direction is faultless, a fitting celebration for the theatre which is celebrating its seventh birthday.

And what a coup – Next Stage is the only amateur company to be given the rights to perform Jerusalem.

Don't miss this – even if you do have to queue all night for a ticket.

Jerusalem runs until Saturday January 28. Call the Next Stage box office on 01225 428600 or Bath Festivals box office on 01225 463362, or email nextstagebath@aol.com

Jackie Chappell