MY CITY Almeida Theatre

Stephen Poliakoff’s best work has always been on television. Do watch Caught on a Train and The Lost Prince, both available on DVD and excellent entertainment. In his new play, his first in 12 years, three retired primary school teachers are unexpectedly reunited with two of their former and now grown-up pupils. The teachers are disillusioned and bitter; London has lost its style and uniqueness and the myriad CCTV cameras have succeeded only in making them feel less safe. The once inspirational headmistress (Tracy Ullman) now walks the streets alone at night and has strange encounters with distraught mothers and psychopaths. The play is spooky and sinister and the teachers are never quite real; it is as if they are in a dyslectic’s dream world and might suddenly turn into fates and model for Henry Fuseli. The moment, which really involved the audience, and most audibly too, was when pupils’ art work, which had been cherished for a very long time, was needlessly shredded.