Last Updated on February 23, 2025
Sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll come to Ibiza
The world premiere of Out of Season has opened at Hampstead Downstairs. Directed by Hampstead Theatre Associate Director, Alice Hamilton (Nineteen Gardens), it is a comedic play written by Neil D’Souza. It tells the story of three middle-aged men, friends who wish to recapture their glory days in Ibiza. They are nostalgic for the holiday (and their youth) they enjoyed on the island 30 years before. Therein lies the comedy as anyone who tries to relive their youth knows only too well.
The audience enters the auditorium through the hotel door, crosses the bedroom and takes their seats. The set is beautifully designed (Janet Bird) to resemble the cheap hotel room in Ibiza that the men stayed in 30 years prior. The cupboard has remained the same, but the room is now ‘deluxe’ albeit no one can see what the upgrade has involved. Perhaps it is the Picasso poster hanging above the bed.
This five-hander includes D’Souza who plays the character of Dev who travels to celebrate the 50th birthday of his friend Chris (Peter Bramhill). They are joined in the second half of the play by the third man in the friendship circle, Michael (James Hillier). Much drinking, cavorting and flirting takes place with two women they meet at the hotel, Amy (Catrin Aaron) and Holly (Kerry Bennett).
The three male friends met at university decades before and enjoyed a holiday together to Ibiza. D’Souza writes with humour and pathos about their lives in the intervening decades. The men try to talk – at least Dev tries to hold an emotionally sentient conversation, but Chris cannot engage on this level. Ridicule in the form of banter becomes barbed and, at times, bullying, throwing a spotlight onto how men interact, keeping feelings at bay and yet also using this banter to express affection with one another. It is also interesting to see on stage a discussion between men about how they feel to have reached middle age without having had children. This is a conversation that traditionally is seen to be had between women.
The three were in a band at uni – the title of the play is the name of one of their songs – and, although they are all still involved in music in one form or another, their youthful promise as musicians has not borne fruit. Nor have they evolved into fully-fledged adults. They appear to be suspended in an extended youth, neither with partners nor families (one is estranged from his daughter), men-children still looking for love and affection. Their relationships with each other are immature, but the playwright seeks opportunities for growth and redemption. He avoids a neat tying up of the story and leaves the audience with a sense of much emotional work to be done and the pain and vulnerability of setting off on such a journey.
Out of Season is well-written and well-crafted, balancing light and dark humour with plenty of witty lines and, later, more contemplative and emotionally meaningful, at times painful, discussions. There is pleasing character development, especially in the characters of Dev and Chris who are moving towards potentially happier outcomes in their lives until the third friend, Michael turns up. He is a narcissistic bully and neither of the men can initially stand up to his toxic masculinity. This role falls to Amy, a wonderfully written character – a gentle yet tough, Northern, no-nonsense woman who has wrestled down the likes of Michael before and is the only character not in awe of or intimidated by him. This creates drama in all the right places.
All five actors put in strong performances and director, Alice Hamilton, maintains a tight pace and keeps the correct balance between humour and pathos.
Out of Season runs at Hampstead Downstairs until 23 March 2024
Hampstead Theatre, Eton Avenue, London NW3 3EU
Leave a Reply