Good Morning Midnight at Jermyn Street Theatre

As usual I cannot recall why I chose to go to the show, or even how I found out about it in the first place, and also as usual, it proved to be a good decision at the time whatever the reason for it.

This was my first time at the Jermyn Street Theatre and it was rather hard to find! There was a small door with steps leading down to a basement in a building that was surrounded in scaffolding. I walked all the way around it before I found the way in on the second pass.

The theatre is squeezed in to a small and unusual space, as such theatres often are. I was reminded of Pentameters and Trafalgar Studios. The stage is wide and not very deep. The seating slopes back from the long side and a little around the side.

The stage was set simply with six bar stools across the back. These and the lighting gave the impression of a night club. This soon showed itself to be appropriate.

The show opens with a radio DJ welcoming us to her programme that runs from Midnight through to morning. The music selection that follows is jazzy.

The six dancers, three men and three women, take their places on the stools and the dance begins. Each song brings a new dance.

From the beginning the dancing is energetic and raunchy. The wide stage is used to good effect as the dancers throw themselves, and each other, with the passion and fury of the late stages of lust. There is plenty of lifting and carrying too. At times it feels more like a circus act or a gym session set to music than a dance, and I mean that in a good way.

Sitting in the front row was to be immersed in this frenetic activity and almost to intrude is someone else's foreplay. There are some undies on show, coloured knickers for the women and grey boxers for the men, but this is naked lust without the nakedness. You have to go somewhere posh like Sadler's Wells for full nudity.

There are some lighter and quieter moment too, such as when one of the men fell asleep sucking his thumb.

My abiding memories are of exuberance, energy and funky jazz. These are good memories to have.