JB Shorts 4 (Manchester)

Venue: Joshua Brooks
Where: Manchester

The latest JB Shorts show – six new 15-minute plays written by top TV writers – returns to the basement of Joshua Brooks, with some high profile acting and directing talent on board.

In , a young couple (Chris Hannon and Verity Henry) travel the Mediterranean, ripping off rich, boorish middle aged men; when a con backfires, the pair work hard to cover their tracks. It’s a killer premise – like a Club 18-30 Grifters – and one writer Bill Taylor could easily sustain for a longer piece.

Is it possible to dance with a coat over your arm? Lindsay Williams’ Waiting for GaGa is an acutely observed comedy about the pitfalls of gig going, featuring a droll performance from former ‘Allo ‘Allo actor Arthur Bostrom.

Early Doors actor James Quinn stars in A Selfish Boy which is written by EastEnders stalwart Christopher Reason and it focuses on the strained relationship between a neurotic mother and her exasperated son. Quinn surfaces as writer on Watching the Detectives, a zany send-up of TV cop shows with strong performances (Anne Marie Bayley – as crime fighting pensioner Annie Winter – deserves special mention).

Going to Extremes – from Lisa Houldsworth – features an edgy performance by Joe Ransom as a racist thug. Dave Simpson’s Cock-Tales is a well intentioned warning about prostate cancer, scuppered by an over abundance of knob gags; like a page from NHS Direct, written by the boys from Viz.

Overall though, JB Shorts 4 offers audiencess a very enjoyable night out.

– Stephen Timms