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Four lads: Jason, Mark, Tim and Nick steal a car and in the process nearly run over the owner. When Nick confesses the incident to his Probation Officer, a meeting between offender and owner is set up. But who is the real victim?
Played out at break neck speed the play grinds together the pulsating excitement and mind-numbing desperation of these young mavericks, each on their own separate crash course. |
As Jason, the psychotic, drug-taking car thief, my stage career took a new turn.
‘Car’ began life in 1999. Co-produced by Theatre Absolute and The Belgrade Theatre, Coventry. Following workshops and local try-out productions it played the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where it picked up a Fringe First Award for Outstanding New Work and Innovation. Moving on to packed houses at a London fringe venue it received the Time Out Live Award for Best New Play on the London Fringe.
With all its success ‘Car’ was invited to open the Time Out Pick of the Fringe Season at the Battersea Arts Centre. Chris O’Connell and Mark Babych decided they wanted a new cast for this London production and this is where I joined the project. In February 2000 ‘Car’ opened at the Battersea Arts Centre and played for two very successful weeks.
The subsequent small International Tour took in several UK Cities including Manchester, Brighton, Darlington, Birmingham, Cambridge, Newcastle, Bradford and Nottingham. Across the water in Cork we were enthusiastically received by audiences and critics, and went on to follow Stephen Berkoff and Mark Ravenhill at the Best of London Theatre Festival (Londres Sur Scene Festival) in Paris!  I particularly wanted the role of Jason as it was a huge departure from my previous roles. I knew I could really get my teeth into the character and that Jason was the challenge I had been looking for! The play was cutting-edge and had already picked up two awards. I was really chuffed to be asked to play Jason for a London audience, especially as I was the only Southerner in a Northern based story.
On tour we six cast members were responsible for everything – no stagehands for us! After driving ourselves to the various venues (in a big green van) we would assemble the set – put on the performance – disassemble the set … and drive off in to the night! It was a wonderful working experience and we all became firm friends.
Although this type of small-scale touring is physically demanding and extremely tiring, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole project and relished the role of Jason.
‘Car’ became the first of a trilogy of plays by Chris O’Connell, published as ‘The Street Trilogy’. I feel very proud of the fact that this was the first play I was a part of to be commercially published and in which I was credited for my contribution.
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“Spectacularly successful … the audience went wild” Daily Telegraph
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“Brilliantly realised piece of theatre, driven by powerful, almost rhythmic dialogue, excellent choreography and compelling performances” Birmingham Post
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“Hardcore entertainment” Independent
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Critics Choice
Feb – March 2000 Time Out
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“Rich language and superb performances” The Metro
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“Highly exhilarating… Jason, sensitively played by Simon Greiff” The Examiner, Cork
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“Utterly committed performances distinguish a thoughtful and exciting play” The Irish Times
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