Funny Turns at the brand-spanking new Hull Truck

First thing's first: this is a new venue, and it's all very nice and whatever, but some of the FoH staff are a bit moody. Aside from that, the new main stage lives up to expectations, and is a trendier version of the old Spring Street venue. Nice.

As for Godber's Funny Turns...well, in less than 150 words:

There's an unwritten rule at Hull Truck: plays must be aware of their status as plays, or characters must be aware that they're onstage.

It's a hallmark of John Godber's writing, and the opening of Funny Turns makes that plain. We've got a bunch of tecchies (or roadies, as they seem to prefer) who mill around stage setting up as the audience enters, then speak together in a poetic introduction that tells us all what on life on the road is like. Then they introduce each scene and form bits of set during them – it's hard to escape the idea that Godber's telling us that all of life is one long performance.

In this, Godber's newest play, there's a dance hall. Yep. But it's made by tecchies holding steel bars. It's classic Godber and classic Truck; a basic set and idea creating the image of something bigger.

[Then, to continue, more detail, beyond a 150 word limit]
Funny Turns opens the new Truck building, which is all shiny and sparkly. The new main stage is a bigger version of the old Truck stage, but feels more like a spaceship – at least it feels a bit like being in a Star Wars Senate Chamber. So it seems a shame that the Truck's going for its traditional, stripped-back style. The image works, but doesn't exactly make the most of the Truck's super-dooper space-age venue.

Other relics left over from Spring Street include the male leads in this script about an ageing pair of Hull women acting as roadies while the money back home dribbles away on dance lessons. Those roadies crop up again at the end, in a much more crucial – and highly convenient – way...in fact, it feels a bit too easy a plot solution – a bit deus ex machina, if you will. Then, there's the manipulative feel-good song – given to completely the wrong character – tacked on the end. Hmm...

You're never too old for a Godber play. But you might start to see the cracks more easily after a while.