Cockfosters at The Turbine Theatre Review
The hilarious comedy returns to the aptly designed venue
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“If you see something that doesn't look right, speak to staff or text British Transport Police…”
Phrase rings a bell?
For any regular commuters of the famous London Underground, affectionately known as the Tube (or indeed any Network Rail train across the country), this will no doubt be among the many announcements heard repetitively - on average every few minutes or so. But this is just one of the many daily encounters theatre company Slow Mojo Collective draws inspiration from, in the summer return of their comedy show Cockfosters.
Named after the (daringly giggle-inducing) Tube station, the piece, from the minds of writers Tom Woffenden and Hamish Clayton (also Director), establishes an unapologetically hilarious tone even before the house opens - spoilers are kept to the minimum but there may well be an immersive pre-show causing severe delays - from the moment audiences are welcomed through the doors of the theatre.
Upon Gareth Rowntree's set consisting of iconic, upholstered moquette seating with a finish of the Piccadilly line map and a priority seat sign, an ensemble of seven take on the roles we know and love (some roles perhaps not so much, as we come to find out), introduced through a series of rightfully awkward conversations which form the base recipe for an hour of non-stop laughs.
The degree of realism portrayed is almost scary: all types of passengers imaginable come to life along a lengthy journey from Heathrow all the way to Cockfosters, shared by two newly met commuters, Tori (Beth Lilly) and James (Sam Rees-Baylis). Through the exchange of anecdotes and life stories among other conversation starters, the ensemble (in both actor and character context) are taken through their paces in a series of deliberately chaotic scenes; from the outdated ticket inspector all the way back to the then-revolutionary invention of the Tube system, all relating to the Underground in some way.
Shows like Cockfosters
As a comedic play, the show is performed entirely by the Collective, who deserves all the praise for what feels like the perfect combination of scripted and devised theatre; they manage to take on numerous personas (think Operation Mincemeat style quick changes) and extract the fun out of everyday situations with much sarcasm, all whilst performing impeccably-timed crowd work; at one point, Natasha Vasandani hosts a Tube-themed game show, and at another Ed Bowles “serenades” the passengers… just to name a few moments that the ensemble (with Amy Bianchi, Harry Bradley and Kit Loyd completing the cast) leaves the audience in stitches.
In a marriage of physical comedy and contextual wit, the show joins seemingly random scenes together in dramatised versions of these could-be-real encounters; throw in a few station innuendos and a performance space with a natural tie-in of having trains intermittently passing by overhead, you get a genius piece that is Cockfosters.
There is something about being in a communal space that just works for a show like this, so I challenge anyone not to laugh over 60 minutes of pure fun - let me know how you get on, or text 61016…
(no please don't, strictly for the British Transport Police only!)
★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Cockfosters plays at Southwark Playhouse Borough until 17 May. For more information and to book tickets, visit the venue website.
The production was reviewed during its original run at The Turbine Theatre in 2024.
Tickets and Accessibility
🎟️ Tickets were kindly gifted by the press representatives for the show. All views remain those of the editor, without any input or approval from the producers or venue. Standard tickets for the Southwark Playhouse run are priced from £24 with concessions from £19.
♾️ There are lots of audience interaction as would be expected including a pre-show in the Front of House area, as well as occasional strobe and flashing lights that sometimes point out into the audience due to the intimate nature of the theatre. Music is played during segments/scenes - some tracks start suddenly.
