Making fun of toffs has lost its impact but there is still something fascinating to Laura Wade's Posh.
Laura Wade's Posh finally gets its West End transfer two years after it ran at Royal Court in the run up to the general elections of 2010. While this excellently ugly depiction of the entitled elite lauding over the people who serve them is a strong play, I think its timing did more for it than we realised and this West End transfer feels two years too late.
The interim has given us time for a royal wedding, The King's Speech, Made in Chelsea and let's not forget two whole series of Downton Abbey and relentless mocking of David Cameron. As the country continues to swing like a pendulum between idolising the aesthetics of the upper classes and rubbishing their politics, I feel like Posh has lost its poignancy. Until, that is, it gets to this line: “Really,” growls one particularly obnoxious member of Oxford University’s exclusive and fictional Riot Club “you want to be me”.
The most fascinating elements of Wade's play are not its setting nor the elitism it uses to explore human nature, but the sense of identity of this co-dependent group of young men that she captures with such anthropological brilliance. Their age, their naivety, their uneasiness and the fear that hides behind their cockiness all leap from the stage, alongside their relentless tribal cruelty. The dynamics beyond their own idiosyncratic language – which is original in its wording but not in its notion – make for good post-show conversation, less so their sense of entitlement. Put simply, this play needs to be morally ambiguous to really leave an impact, and the metaphors of wealth and belonging could be more tactful and engaging.
When a persistently mocked character asks “is it coz I'm Greek?” his thankless efforts at assimilation are disappointingly blunt, and this depiction of being in the know doesn't beat the telling whisky test (Water or ice? Who knows? Not me.) which begins and ends this play.
The direction, design and lighting of the show are all pretty flawless but this production excels at the scene changes. Adapted to include recent chart successes, the boys periodically break out into grand a capella renditions of Tinie Tempah's Pass Out, Earthquake and LMFAO's Sexy and I Know It, filling the space with their own sinister version of common hits. While acknowledging the popular masses, they wield these songs like weapons for their own cruel intentions: what streams from the stage in these moments is one of the few truly original theatrical feats you'll witness in the West End. 
Posh runs at Duke of Yorks's Theatre until 24th August
Image by Johan Persson
More in theatre:
Chariots of Fire at Hampstead Theatre
The Suit at The Young Vic
Toujours et pres de moi at The Print Room
Add an event
Scoping Out London’s Coolest Historic Bingo Halls
London’s bingo halls were once a bustling part of many of the city’s communities, but as...