Out of Season review – bangers and brawls as happy hour turns sour in Ibiza

Hampstead theatre, London
Neil D’Souza’s sharp script is packed with regret and affection as old bandmates get together to relive the glory days on holiday

Grab the beer and sunglasses and get ready for takeoff – this is a lads’ holiday to remember. Except the lads on this trip are middle-aged men. They’re back in Ibiza after 30 years to celebrate Chris’s 50th birthday, relive the memories of their time in a band and maybe pull a girl or two.

Neil D’Souza’s script is a giddy feast of nostalgia and abandoned dreams. Manchild Chris (Peter Bramhill) has his head in the past and still performs the tunes he wrote with best mate Dev (also played by D’Souza) back in the day. “I’m not an old man,” he insists. Dev has moved on, he’s a music lecturer at a university and spends his days in therapy lamenting his lack of family. Their third group member, the elusive LA-living music manager Michael, is at first nowhere to be seen.