From the Wild West to the wildness of punk. Following its debut last autumn with Jethro Compton’s The Frontier Trilogy, Sense of Place Theatre returns to the Hen & Chickens Theatre to revive another play by a modern British playwright: Mike Packer’s 2007 comedy tHe dYsFUnCKshOnalZ!.
Punk’s not dead!
The world’s unluckiest punk band reunites for one final gig!
Old punks don’t die… they just stand at the back.
tHe dYsFUnCKshOnalZ!, directed by Steve Thompson, runs for six performances only at the Hen & Chickens Theatre in Islington, north London, from 28 May to 1 June 2019.
In 1977, when punk was at its height, Billy Abortion’s bandmates left him bleeding to death in a Copenhagen hotel room. In 2007, Billy is back from the dead and stacking shelves. There was no way tHe dYsFUnCKshOnalZ! Would ever reform. Until now….
Thirty years after the bands notorious split, an American corporation wants to pay them a small fortune for their punk anthem ‘Plastic People’, but everyone has to be in on the deal. How much will it take for the angriest man in music to sell out?
Mike Packer‘s touching, sad, hilarious, loud, dangerous, fun and unbelievably offensive play about a fictitious punk band, that may bear a passing resemblance to The Sex Pistols, premiered to rave reviews at the Bush Theatre in 2007. Since then, it’s been performed on three continents, including in long-running rep at the Sovremennik Theatre of Moscow, under the title of Anarchy.
In Sense of Place’s revival at the Hen & Chickens, Danny Swanson stars as Billy Abortion with Paul Albertson as Mark Faeces, John Alastair as John Smith, Emily Fairman as Louise Gash and Anneli Page as Gina. tHe dYsFUnCKshOnalZ! has music by Tim Jennings. Georgina Bennett is producer, Nick Jackson is stage manager.
Mike Packer
Bio
Born in Zambia, Mike Packer is an English playwright, actor and poet. In addition to tHe dYsFUnCKshOnalZ!, his many acclaimed plays include Cardboys, Inheritance and A Carpet, a Pony and a Monkey. His plays have been performed at major new writing institutions in the UK, including London’s Bush Theatre, Newcastle Live, and Soho. Internationally, his work has been performed in Russia, Australia, Hungary, and Germany. His debut play To Live Like a King was a runner-up for the Allied Domecq New Playwrights Award.
The 2007 premiere at the Bush Theatre
What the critics said in 2007
“I suspect that Mike Packer, the author of this knock-out new play about a punk rock band’s reunion, misspent his youth gobbing at bands down the 100 Club while wearing bondage trousers and a safety pin through his nose… A show that constantly combines the crude, the comic and the unexpectedly affecting… The dialogue, laced with pungent swearwords, has bite, wit and pathos” – Charles Spencer, Daily Telegraph
“This is a joyous, entertaining, thought-provoking evening, and even if the early promise of taking a razor blade to the throat of dumb consumerism isn’t quite fulfilled, the journey there is exhilarating. If this doesn’t get a West End transfer, there’s no justice. I wonder which multinational corporation will do the sponsoring?” – Charles Hart, The Sunday Times
About Sense of Place Theatre
Sense of Place Theatre is formed by a collective of actors. They say of their enterprise and mission:
Sense of place. A strong identity deeply felt by inhabitants and visitors. As a company of actors, we feel a sense of place onstage, when performing, rehearsing, creating and watching theatre. Whilst it can be challenging, exposing and full of risk, it always feels like coming home, like the centre of your Self has hunkered down with a cup of tea. Watching theatre can create a sense of place too, but it can also create a feeling of ‘placelessness’, that unsettled and uncomfortable feeling that can lead you to ask questions of yourself and the world around you.
We aim to produce theatre that creates a sense of place for our audiences. Be it to believe in and enjoy inhabiting the world we have imagined, connecting emotionally or intellectually with the work we have created, or in some cases, feeling that lack of a sense of place, with placelessness encouraging questions and reflection.
