In a witty and sweet homage to the tube, Cockfosters celebrates the mode of transport we love to hate
Staring down the barrel of a lengthy journey along the entire Piccadilly line, James (Sam Rees-Baylis) and Tori (Beth Lilly) board the train at Heathrow, each coming off their own tumultuous trip. They are strangers, politely ignoring each other at first, who find themselves not only in conversation but bound together in some kind of surprising partnership whilst facing a series of obstacles, games, skits, and shocks along their expedition on the underground. Tori has just come back from a month-long yoga retreat in Mexico in which she expected to learn more about herself and what she wants to do with her life, but instead found herself learning more about how to do yoga whilst battling a violent hangover. James has returned home from a slightly more tragic trip; after his fiance dumped him, he decided to see his honeymoon out solo. Tori and James become fast friends during the relatively calm inception of the train journey. However, as the usual suspects on the underground enter and exit the carriage, total chaos is introduced to James and Tori’s commute, drawing the pair ever-closer.
Writer, producer, and director Hamish Clayton in tandem with writer, producer, and songwriter Tom Woffenden have created an amusing, delightful play that pokes fun at our own relationship with and total dependance on the tube. The piece is not interested in gleaning any profound meaning from the spectacle that is the underground. Instead, Cockfosters gathers the idiosyncrasies of the tube, explores and expands them to something akin to a fever dream, and crams them into a 65-minute journey along the Piccadilly line, all the way from Heathrow to Cockfosters. The result is a comedic bout of delirium that is a joy to experience. The ensemble (Emily Waters, Natasha Vasandani, Liam Horrigan, and Jimmy Bryant) does much of the heavy lifting, bouncing between different characters from a whole host of eras and communities. They sing, dance, host a game show, engage in a rap battle, busk, beg, become American, travel back in time, gain jobs, lose jobs, couple up, become the grim reaper, and, somehow, much more. They truly propel the show forward with endless spells of entertainment.
If you’re in the mood for a silly, self-aware piece that really just wants to make you laugh, Cockfosters is most certainly a great contender.