Holy Sh!t, Kiln Theatre, Kilburn, London review: A vigorously funny production of Alexis Zegerman's sharp play

Zegerman's astringent comedy is in the theatre's best traditions of being provocatively topical

Claire Goose and Dorothea Myer-Bennett in 'Holy Sh!t' by Alexis Zegerman at the Kiln Theatre (Mark Douet)

The Tricycle Theatre in Kilburn has now been relaunched with £5.5m worth of handsome refurbishments and a controversial name change. Indhu Rubasingham, the artistic director, has overseen changes that create a more welcoming environment, calculated to pull in passers-by, and enhance the feel of a creative hub.

There’s a glass-fronted on-street cafe, a hospitable ramp up to the auditorium and a buzzy sense of interconnectedness round the building (constructed in 1929). Additions from the 1980s have been stripped away to expose original tiles, architraves and balustrades. The inclusiveness of the atmosphere is heightened by the warmth of the wood and textured timber that permeates the redesign.

The beautiful auditorium shows how deftly the architects have managed to bring this theatre up to date technically while being respectful of its soul. The old padded benches have been replaced with individual seats; the capacity has been raised to 292; and the sightlines have been greatly improved.

The flexible new design allows the space to be reconfigured for traverse and in-the-the-round productions. All of this is surely beneficial – building on, rather than nullifying, the Tricycle’s illustrious history under Nicolas Kent who was artistic director here from 1984 to 2012.

I’ve seen refurbishments elsewhere that have crassly banished the venue’s ghosts. This splendid revamp is much too sensitive to be guilty of that.

Not everyone agrees. Altering the theatre’s name from the Tricycle to Kiln Theatre has triggered resistance. There were 400 signatures to a petition calling for a reversal of this rechristening. Many seemed to feel that the new moniker signals a relinquishing of the theatre’s proud legacy.

At the opening night of Holy Sh!t, the first show of the new season, there was a small, noisy demonstration by the entrance, the protesters lustily singing and brandishing placards that pleaded: “Give us back the Tricycle we love”.

I asked how they would have felt if they had actually gone inside and watched Rubasingham’s vigorously funny production of Alexis Zegerman’s sharp play. Might they have wondered if the preservation of a name is necessarily the best guarantee that values are continued and developed.

The auditorium has been wonderfully boosted but it has not, after all, lost its special identity. And Zegerman’s astringent comedy is in the theatre’s best traditions of being provocatively topical. A four-hander, it frets over the lengths parents will now go to to get their children into the best local state schools.

The newly refurbished Kiln Theatre (Philip Vile ) (Philip Vile)

Simone (Dorothea Myer-Bennett) and Juliet (Claire Goose) have been bosom buddies since Oxford, but their friendship comes under strain when they both try to secure places for their four-year-olds, Milly and Sophie, at St Mary’s, a much-competed-for Church of England school nearby.

Juliet is a Christian and might be said to believe in God, but Simone and her husband Sam (Daniel Lapaine) are atheistic Jews. More of a burden for her, you might have thought, pretending to be C of E during the 40 Sunday services she is obliged to attend as a prospective parent.

There’s absolutely nothing that Simone won’t do, though – becoming a booming stalwart in the choir (hilarious vignettes) and even contemplating Confirmation. Then what starts off as a diverting comedy becomes altogether darker (its progression into lacerating prickliness is skilfully handled by the crack cast and by Rubasingham’s adroitly modulated production).

The offstage children trade racial slurs that they can only have picked up from their parents. Only one of the couples is successful in gaining a place.

In the resulting tangle of emotions, terrible prejudices are blurted out — against Jews, against the working classes and against mixed-race marriages (“middle-class colonialism”) such as Juliet has enjoyed for ten years with Nick (Daon Broni). Simone rails against the parents who don’t try to get into St Mary’s: “It’s still me who has to pay for their social security ... for their fat, diabetic kid’s insulin.”

One of the many questions the play prompts is what kind of example you would set your children by cheating to get them a preferential place. A stimulating start to a season that will include a stage adaptation of Zadie Smith’s White Teeth.

Holy Sh!t plays at the Kiln Theatre until Saturday 6 October