Posh (play)


Posh is a play by the British playwright Laura Wade. It was first staged at the Royal Court Theatre downstairs in 2010. The play concerns an Oxford student dining club called "The Riot Club", a fictionalised version of the Bullingdon Club. The first production, produced during the British General Election, received favourable reviews.

Plot

Ten members of "The Riot Club", an exclusive Oxford University dining club, have rented out a country pub's dining room for their termly dinner. Their president, James, who is about to leave university, is falling out of love with the club and promises the suspicious landlord Chris and his waitress daughter Rachel that he will keep things under control. While James avoids his presidential duties, others vie for his position. Inspired by his godfather Jeremy, a former Riot Club member and now a Tory MP, Guy tries to impress the boys with a "ten bird roast'. Others are less restrained; one has hired Charlie the prostitute. When Charlie arrives she refuses to get under the table and perform oral sex on the boys; they are surprised at her scruples.
As the members get more drunk and rowdy their bullying of each other and of Chris and Rachel gets worse. They try to force Rachel to kiss them all; she runs out and they wreck the room. Chris bursts in outrage and the members assault him, knocking him out. Horrified, they panic and bar the door, despite the landlord being seriously hurt. Hugo calls an ambulance, much to everyone else's discontent. Eventually they all agree to pin the blame on Alistair, who has consistently riled them throughout the night. They agree that, as they will all end up being successful, they will look after Alistair after university and make sure they 'see him right'. They open the door to the distraught Rachel and the ambulance approaches.
Weeks later Alistair meets with Jeremy, who has managed to weaken the charge against Alistair and effectively get him off the hook. Intrigued by Alistair's politics, Jeremy promises Alistair that he will be keeping a close eye on him in future and that he has high hopes for him.

Cast

CharacterOriginal Cast, 2010West End Cast, 2012Regional Premiere Cast, 2015Original All-Female Cast, 2017Vancouver, 2017UK tour, 2019
DirectorLyndsey TurnerLyndsey TurnerSusannah TresilianCressida CarréAllyson FournierLucy Hughes
Jeremy Simon ShepherdSimon ShepherdLaurence KennedySarah ThomMichael ShewchukSimon Rhodes
ChrisDaniel RyanSteffan RhodriNeil CapleSarah ThomMichael ShewchukPeter McNeil O'Connor
RachelFiona ButtonJessica RansomCharlotte BrimbleToni PeachMariela ShuleyIsobel Laidler
CharlieCharlotte LucasCharlotte LucasJoanne EvansToni PeachCaroline DoyleEllie Nunn
Alistair RyleLeo BillLeo BillJordan MetcalfeSerena JenningsRiaan SmitTyger Drew-Honey
Toby MaitlandJolyon CoyJolyon CoyTom CleggMolly HansonCole HowardMatthew Entwistle
Hugo Fraser-TyrwhittDavid DawsonPip CarterTom HansonLucy AardenKevin HatchOllie Appleby
Guy BellingfieldJoshua McGuireJoshua McGuirePhilip LabeyAmani ZardoeJake SheardownAdam Mirsky
George BalfourRichard GouldingRichard GouldingJamie SatterthwaiteMacy NymanThomas Van KalkenJoseph Tyler Todd
Harry VilliersHarry Hadden-PatonMax BennettRobbie JarvisAlice BrittainKelly McCabeJack Whittle
Ed MontgomeryKit HaringtonHarry Lister SmithKaffe KeatingVerity KirkDylan LeonardTaylor Mee
Dimitri MitropoulosHenry Lloyd-HughesHenry Lloyd-HughesSimon HainesCassie BradleyDavid Z. CohenJamie Littlewood
James Leighton-MastersTom MisonTom MisonTom PalmerGabby WongTim HoweChris Born
Miles RichardsJames NortonEdward KillingbackDario CoatesJessica SiânTristan SmithGeorge Prentice

Premiere

The Royal Court production opened during the 2010 UK general election and garnered much attention for its timely portrayal of an Oxford University dining club which might be seen as a parody of the real life Bullingdon Club. A number of prominent Conservative politicians have been members of The Bullingdon, including Prime Minister David Cameron, Chancellor George Osborne and the Mayor of London Boris Johnson.
The production's scene changes were marked by the Riot Club's a cappella renditions of current popular music such as Wearing My Rolex by the grime rapper Wiley; the music was arranged by James Fortune.

West End production

In 2012 the Royal Court production of the show was revived in the West End at the Duke of York's Theatre with several cast changes. The script was updated, including references to the coalition government which had since come to power and a slight recharacterisation of James Leighton-Masters in line with current events. The a cappella renditions of songs were also updated, this time including LMFAO's Sexy and I Know It.

Female-led productions

In March 2016, female-led theatre company Anonymous Is A Woman Theatre Company staged a rehearsed reading of the play, directed by Lucy Jane Atkinson, in which the genders were cast in reverse: women played the 12 male roles; men played the 2 female roles. The following week, at AIAWTC’s Women in the West End festival at the Arts Theatre, London, a gender-reversed scene from the play was performed, complemented by a non-gender reversed performance of the same scene.
The following year, an all-female production of the play was staged at London’s Pleasance Theatre, directed by Cressida Carré and starring Cassie Bradley. All 14 roles, male and female, were played by women. The play was performed as it was initially written by Wade, using the male names and the “he” pronoun. The playwright, Laura Wade, said: “It’s always interesting to see a new cast take on Posh, but it’ll be fascinating to see what light an all-female company can throw on the play’s world of power and privilege. I’m often asked what Posh would have been like if there were women in the Riot Club instead of men. Perhaps now I get to find out.”

Subsequent productions

In February 2015 the regional premiere was co-produced by Nottingham Playhouse and Salisbury Playhouse, directed by Susannah Tresilian.

Film adaptation

The Riot Club, a film adaptation of the play, directed by Lone Scherfig, was released in 2014.

Reception

Both London productions received generally favourable reviews; the ensemble was well praised with some reviewers comparing the young male cast to the original cast of The History Boys by Alan Bennett. Some reviews criticised what they saw as an unbelievable ending, but the play received four stars from nearly all the major publications and five from Time Out. Posh was nominated as Best New Play at both the Evening Standard Awards and Theatregoers' Choice Awards in 2011.