Roddy is dead. And he’s the lead character. In most other plays, this would be a cue for the audience to pack up and go home, but in Boogie Nights 2 this just means it’s time for his lover to sing a grief-stricken cover of Eternal Flame by the Bangles, before we follow Roddy, played by Mark Jones, to heaven. Apparently heaven is a place where people in T-shirts sing Heaven is a Place on Earth. It’s also a good place to meet David Essex, apparently. A giant Rubik’s Cube appears on the screens behind Roddy, and it’s flashback time. (Well, it worked for the Aeneid…)
You’ve probably worked out by now that Boogie Nights 2 is both a) set in the Eighties and b) very silly indeed. The plot is little more than an excuse to string together as many Eighties pop hits as you can possibly cram into a little over two hours, and there are dancers in fluorescent legwarmers to accompany it. The Madonna-led trend for power dancing that appears more like aerobics is enthusiastically embraced here; the sheer energy and skill of these dancers turns the stage into an electric dream, although parents should be warned to cover their children’s eyes during the Relax sequence.
Unfortunately, the overarching structure of this musical is that of a simplistic morality tale. Roddy eventually learns to abandon the Eighties values of greed and materialism (and, yes, it is expressed in almost exactly those words) and learns that family is important, drug-pushing is bad and that “nobody dies if we remember them in our hearts”. Bear in mind that this is Boogie Nights - Beyond The Grave and not Boogie Nights – The Primary School Years.
But does it matter that the message would appear clunky to a seven-year-old? The answer appears to be: not a bit. Mark Jones uses his comic talent to send up his role, while the whole production is full of little jokes with added resonance for those of us who remember the decade that fashion forgot. Emily Mascarenhas and Scott Robinson spark off each other as Terry and Trish, and turn in strong performances in their own right. Don Crann is hilarious as Eamon and Joe Speare is suitably underhand as Spencer. Sophie Lawrence as Debs demonstrates her versatility and singing talent. There really isn’t an actor in this who isn’t spot-on, and the dancing is (sometimes literally) out of this world.
Go for the dancing, the nostalgia, the jokes, the cross-dressing, the stream of Eighties hits and the chance to see David Essex wearing a giant pair of wings. Just don’t go expecting highbrow drama or deep philosophical insights.