Life always must move on, but what if you don’t want the party to end? Do we have the strength to stand up to addictive and damaging behaviour by people we once loved? Death of a Disco Dancer sees four ex Uni friends come together for one night of nostalgia, fuelled by the endless beat of favourite tunes, raucous party games and copies amounts of alcohol.
Main protagonist and self-confessed party bully Mattie (played by Esther Levin) is the catalyst for good times and the “black hole” at the centre of an increasingly fractious friendship group. As the night starts to unravel, we see the newly successful Jason (Ben Willows) come into direct conflict with Mattie, calling out her destructive tendencies and potentially splitting the group for ever.
The first quarter of the performance is a pretty muddled scene, with the cacophony of characters shouting over each other in such small surroundings, making it difficult to make sense of the starting narrative. Added to that, Mattie’s frequent forays into her drink and drug influenced psychosis and a plot sidestep – with little by way of context – into the recently bereaved life of the introverted Stef (Oscar Nicholson) serves only to confuse the story further.
Thankfully, the second half is stronger. As the effects of Mattie’s indulgences take a tighter hold, there is a nicely creative use of lighting, with Jason and right-hand woman Dev (a strong performance from Adela Hernandez-Derbyshire) holding orange torches and strings of blue lights to good dramatic effect, injecting emotion and creating an inferno glow around their pulsating figure.
On the surface, a single night of vodka, a few illicit tokes and tales of a woefully undercooked Chicken Piccata – hardly Trainspotting level debauchery – might not strike you as reason enough for such a dramatic meltdown of the main character. However, bubbling amongst this production is a message of addiction and splintered friendship that can be developed further.