I Caught Crabs in Walberswick

Adolescence is torrid at the best of times, but when your dad finds your porn collection on his work laptop, things can only get worse. For 16-year-old Wheeler and best-mate Fitz it’s a signal to get out of town sharpish.

Fishing for crabs on the bridge at Walberswick, the boys are ambushed by Dani, “a definite ten.” Hormones raging, the two boys jostle for “posh girl” Dani’s attention, whooing her with promises of the “best club in Lowestoft” before beginning an ill-fated joy ride in a (nearly) stolen car.

After a mixed reaction to last year’s black comedy, Stooped Fucken Animals, this is a faster, busier and more immediate effort from playwright Joel Horwood. And while there are certainly cracks—the constant narration is unnecessary and the ending predictable—the wit and energy of the script is infectious.

Horwood obviously knows his native Suffolk like the back of his hand and his subtle meditations on social class are nicely hidden behind the humour. He has also created some fantastic comic characters, from Fitz’s agoraphobic father to Wheeler’s painfully suburban parents and their mid life crises. Each are ably brought to life by the cast, particularly Harry Hepple as Wheeer and supporting actors Andrew Barron and Rosie Thomson.

Resembling a kind of Suffolk restaging of Y Tu Mamá También—albeit for the Skins generation—this is a honest yet charismatic return to form from a very talented playwright