Review: RITA, SUE AND BOB TOO, Bristol Old Vic

It's 1982 and Soft Cell is on the radio. The synths play and "Tainted Love" rings out on this Bradford council estate in Out of Joint's spirited revival of Andrea Dunbar's uncompromising, semi-autobiographical, Rita, Sue and Bob Too.

Tainted is exactly the right word, though love isn't. Sex is a better one. This unflinching portrayal of two 15-year-old girls who end up having an affair with a married older man, Bob, is powerful in its mundaneness. It's not a murky, threatening world that the girls inhabit - it's a boring one without much to look forward to. Bob, a handsome 28 year old, is as exciting as it gets.

The sex they have is as British as it could be- in the reclining seat of a car, naked buttocks thrust back and forth and no one is sure whether you need to take your trousers all the way off or whether one leg is enough. The girls seem happy to be there, flattered even. They wonder why Bob's long-suffering wife isn't happier with her lot- to them she has everything- nice clothes, a house and a husband. Their aspirations aren't for much more.

What makes the play special is its lack of judgement. It doesn't heap blame on any of the characters or shoot for political points. Perhaps Dunbar's own life is a reflection of this- she started writing her first play at school and continued to live on the estate in Bradford even after her plays became successful. She wrote things as she saw them and that authenticity shines through.

Taj Atwal and Gemma Dobson both bring the required innocence to the parts of Rita and Sue without turning them into giggling schoolgirl caricatures. Dobson is particularly impressive in her professional stage debut as bolshie Sue who seems able to laugh anything off. Samantha Robinson as Bob's wife Michelle plays an excellent understated resignation about Bob's infidelity.

There's the odd lumpy moment in the production where it doesn't quite find it's rhythm and watching actors move chairs all the time does become a little tedious but it retains solid direction from Max Stafford-Clark and Kate Wasserberg.

The content makes uncomfortable viewing at times, especially as the word "slut" is liberally used for the young girls and Bob seems to escape such vitriol on the basis that he's a man and this is what men do.

The main thought I'm left with is wondering what Dunbar would make of Britain in 2017. If only she was here to write what she saw. I fear there are not many voices like hers making major theatre. That alone makes this worth your time.

Rita, Sue and Bob Too at Bristol Old Vic until 7 October

Photo credit: Richard Davenport

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