Created by: Jon Haynes

Reviewer: Jeffrey Mayhew

The Public Reviews Rating:

“When Jeremy moves back into his parents’ home he finds little has changed. He is still dominated by a nagging mother, and bewildered by a distant father who dreams of going fishing. In the conflict that follows Jeremy becomes the focus of his parents’ struggle for supremacy.”

But this doesn’t tell the whole story – that you have to discover for yourself.

When I got to the centre I found that all the rooms had been re-named according to their original council function – board room or whatever – all except the sewage room, apparently. Which was a lovely start to an off the wall evening from one of the two masters of comedy that make up Ridiculusmus.

This – The Poof Downstairs – being Jon Haynes’ first solo outing, as it were. As we were about to go in Jon was going out, explaining that he was “just off for a leak”. The man doing FOH duty reinforced this – “We’ll open up when the actor gets back from the men’s rest room”. As it was we all ended up going in together (the auditorium, not the rest room), John apparently nervously fluffing about.

It transpired there were “production problems” – I won’t spoil the plot by giving them away – and there was a substantial, chaotic preamble that established this. In lesser hands this could have been unspeakably grim but the packed (and very happy) house was born gently and securely along on a wave of reminiscence (Jon’s? The character’s?) and theatricality. All this was heightened by occasional sharp touches of real drama and emotional intensity.

Once into the play per se (although we were always really in the play, of course) the characters, voices and bizarre events unfolded with skill and panache. You have to be very good to sustain such a delicate web of material and Jon is very, very good. Yes, it is slender and sometimes meandering, but that is all part of its considerable, fey, bittersweet charm. Do go and watch the magic that can be generated by an actor who is truly in control.

Runs until the 20th March

Tags: Battersea Arts Centre, Jon Haynes, London, The Poof Downstairs