Review: MOJO

This NEW revival of Jez Butterworth's play MOJO, is a tale of rock'n'roll club rivalry, set in the 90s during the infamous ‘Madchester’ period.

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Last night, we headed over to The Met in Bury for the opening night of MOJO. The show is part of this year's Greater Manchester Fringe which is now in its 8th year of running.  Watching amateur theatre is always interesting but can be very hit and miss – so it was a wonderful surprise to find ourselves experiencing a show worthy of a much bigger stage. 

MOJO was Jez Butterworth's first play which burst onto the scene in 1995 with an incredible reception. The team at WonderIf Theatre lead by director Jennie Fairclough have cleverly reworked the show without altering the script to set the characters in Manchester during the '90s when the infamous ‘Madchester’ club scene was at its height.

The script is smart and full of impressive and sometimes flamboyant language which the cast have taken and adjusted to perform with their ‘Mancunian’ accents. The gang consists of Mickey (Miles Mooney), Potts (Paul Jennings), Skinny (Oliver Baines), Sweets (Leigh Manning), Baby (Scott Harrison) and Sliver Johnny (Edrine Spencer). The show follows the characters as their world is turned upside down and they try to locate Silver Johnny and figure out exactly what has happened to notorious gang leader, Ezra.

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Miles Mooney as Mickey is the figure of muscular authority. His presence on stage is strong and as the story unfolds, subtle cracks appear and he slowly begins to crumble before our eyes. Paul Jennings as Potts and Leigh Manning as Sweets were spectacular. They are an unusual but fascinating double act. The characters bounce off each other and the dialogue between them is incredibly entertaining to watch. Scott Harrison as Baby is a toxic and disturbed character. In our ‘post-show’ chat, we were choosing our favourite character and whilst it was a toss-up between Sweets and Baby, I think the backstory of paternal abuse gave Baby’s character greater depth. Oliver Baines as Skinny was superb. Playing the jittery bottom man, we found ourselves really feeling for him and his ill-fated tale. 

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Overall MOJO is thoroughly entertaining and the as the play rests mostly on the dialogue and performance - the lads should be incredibly proud of pulling off such a high-quality performance which really showcased their talent.

If you're local or love a surprise, we can promise you won't regret an evening at The Met to see MOJO. 

MOJO is showing at The Met in Bury until Mon 22nd Jul.

Book your tickets HERE.