Bloated waffle: Jitney at the Old Vic reviewed

The Old Vic’s new show, Jitney, has a mystifying YouTube advert which gives no information about the play or the characters. If the producers paid for the marketing themselves, they’d do a better job.

The advert fails even to mention that ‘Jitney’ is Pittsburgh slang for ‘taxi’ and that the action is set in a cab firm in the 1970s. The boss, Becker, is a growling despot who dominates his crew of uppity young drivers by glaring at them psychotically. The prattling cabbies hang around the office gossiping about casual sex and petty crime. Or they ogle porno magazines. Or they show off their bedroom technique by thrusting their pelvises towards the viewers in row A.

Nothing happens for an hour. Dreary stuff. A bust-up arises between Youngblood and his girlfriend, Rena, over an alleged infidelity and the couple whine at each other for ages. Then there’s a fight between Youngblood and Turnbo, who waves a pistol around. Youngblood looks a bit worried about having his brains blown out at work. But it’s hard to get excited by these macho tussles because the characters are such flimsy, tantrum-prone cry babies and weaklings. It’s like watching the final episode of a dying soap opera.

Another plot thread emerges which reuses the storyline of To Kill a Mockingbird in almost every detail. Isn’t it a bit naughty to copy another writer’s homework? The yarn about a false rape claim leads to a row between Becker and his son, Booster, and the pair have a screaming match that lasts half an hour. If you like watching grown men bawling and sobbing, this could be the highlight of your year.