Review: Tangfastic at the Hope Street Theatre ***

The Hope Street Theatre has proved a real asset to the city’s live performance scene since it opened, offering a versatile space for smaller companies and rising talent to showcase work (and work in progress) which previously found a home at places like the Lantern or Liverpool Actor’s Studio.

Work like Tangfastic, an audaciously unpredictable and provocatively lairy black comedy penned by 2024 LIPA graduates Rio Star and Juliette Collins.

The duo previously appeared together in The Shoe Tree, an immersive multimedia show challenging the stereotypical view of gangs, which they took to Edinburgh two years ago.

Here they are joined by fellow LIPA graduate Anna-Elise Clain in a story that also features gangs of sorts – in the sense of people who naturally migrate towards each other, or coveted membership of a group based on perceived popularity.

Edie (Star) and Frankie (Collins) are the class ‘losers’ who crash what is slated to be the hottest party of the year then find themselves trapped in the bathroom with Veronica the most popular girl in the school, whose birthday bash it turns out to be.

Cue plenty of chaos as the hapless pair attempt to connect with the self-regarding birthday princess who can’t believe her bad luck.

The premise is described as ‘think Bottoms meets Superbad – but British and on stage’. Being firmly among the middle-aged, I initially presumed there was a typo and they actually meant Bottom, the anarchic 1990s sitcom where Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson played a pair of crude and grotesque yet deludedly aspirational flatmates.

And in fact, there is an element of Richie and Eddie about Edie and Frankie, along with a nod towards the Inbetweeners, if Jay, Neil and co were female that is.

The dysfunctional pair initially end up in the loo because frantic Edie has an eye-watering ‘problem’ which, it turns out, involves the titular fizzy jelly sweet, and she enlists laidback Frankie’s help with it in a scene that is unashamedly gross and deliberately boundary pushing.

The mind boggles as to how that particular idea came about, but those of a remotely sensitive disposition may not want to think about it too closely!

Cue the arrival of the preening, kittenish Veronica (Clain, minxy in leopard print hotpants and cat ears) who is less than happy to find herself, hostage like, alongside the class weirdos who want nothing more than to be her friends.

It all reaches a crescendo in a brilliantly conceived bonding sequence where the girls share ‘V-ron’s’ birthday brownie and the action is ramped up to become increasingly crazy and wild-eyed. They're certainly not the only ones who feel like they're on a trip.

At the moment, the piece - which is apparently still in develop - feels a little like a sketch stretched towards the edge of its limits.

And while there’s a deliberate - and enjoyable - sense of cinematic cartoonishness, and a heightened reality about the whole thing, the central characters would benefit from being fleshed out a bit more, including their friendship and their backstory which currently seems to consist solely of being chess ‘nerds’. I feel certain the writers can find a connection that feels less of a trope.

There's also an additional random plot line, lobbed in late on, which might benefit from an earlier reference, however oblique.

But all in all, chapeau to the fearless Star and Collins, a genuine pair of theatrical roaring girls, for pushing the boundaries of storytelling (and taste), and evidently having a great time doing it.