Review:

Teechers, Haymarket Theatre, Basingstoke, Tuesday, 21 March

If, like me, you’re of the Baby Boomer generation, then you’ll probably agree that we were, on the whole, the beneficiaries of decent education. The system had its faults but, by-and-large, it served pupils and teachers well.

John Godber’s play “Teechers” doesn’t offer such a rosy picture of modern education. Set in a failing school placed under special measures, we meet disorderly kids uninspired by jobsworth teachers who have long since given up on them; given up on themselves, too, for that matter.

Enter newly-qualified drama teacher, Mr Nixon, full of determination, unsullied by experience. He motivates some of the youngsters, but the lure of a post at the nearby 'posh school' is always present. His socialist leanings tell him to stay in the state sector, the advantages of the private sector are irresistible, and it’s this dichotomy that’s at the centre of the piece.

Just three actors play all the parts and it’s fast, furious and witty. You’ve got to concentrate, though – pay attention at the back! – because some characters are played by different actors at different times, all while dressed in school uniforms. It’s a bit hard to follow and could have done with a few visual clues as to who’s-who, but go with the flow and it’s chucklesome enough.

The overall effect is best described as Please Sir meets The History Boys, with all the juvenile humour and exaggerated characterisations of the former, but without the loveable shirt-lifter and high-brow one-liners of the latter, and with an overriding sense of inevitable failure.

It’s funny, certainly, but there’s a moral. State education is failing, the gulf between the poor and the wealthy growing in education as elsewhere. Unless we find a way to inspire the teachers we need to inspire the kids, then this problem won’t go away. And that’s certainly not funny.

By Chris Parkinson-Brown.