Simon Ward reviews Pavement Sharks at the Canal Cafe Theatre

For anyone unfamiliar with the venue, it nestles above a rather good pub called the Bridge House in Little Venice, a very pleasant stroll along the canal from what I still think of as the newly refurbished Paddington station. The layout is probably best described as ‘caberet-style’, that is, there are small tables dotted around the floor so the tables at the front definitely have the best view. Fear not, you will not be picked on.

And so to the show itself. It is what can only be described as a hoot. Devised, written and directed by co-stars Hannah Henderson (Hannah) and Katie Lynch (Katie), this was clearly great fun to make. Hannah plays the serious one with an important job in marketing and a scooter; Katie is unemployed and sits around all day in a fluffy hoodie drinking cans and trying to avoid Ethel (Sophie Lynch-Furtado) the neighbour, who will lure them into her flat with the promise of chips and The Chase. But their everyday world is about to be rocked when they witness Ethel apparently being devoured by what can only be described as a Pavement Shark.

If you think that premise is shaky – sharks can’t breathe, as Katie points out bluntly – there is a whole house built on that sand. We meet the Pavement Preppers, Fin (Eddie House) and Astrid (Eshe Asante), who are supposedly highly trained ninja-style assassins but turn out to be practically useless when it comes to actually facing the deadly beasts. It will be down to the heroics of Hannah and Katie to save the day, but not before their friendship is tested to the limit, and possibly beyond.

Puns and plot twists come thick and fast, and there is much fun to be had in the ludicrously low props budget. The puns extend to the credits as well – there is clearly only one hard working actor who carefully delineates the dual role of Pavement Prepper ‘Fin’ and his evil genius twin brother ‘Gill’ but the programme insists that Fin is played by Eddie House and Gill by Freddie Bungalow. I hope he is getting a cut of the profits (haha).

There is a training montage and dance sequences (choreographed by Katie Lynch), over the top fight scenes and a call-out to Jason Statham himself. Your enjoyment may be marred if you’ve never heard of ‘The Stathe’ and fans of trashy action movies will no doubt spot all the references but the mayhem is irresistibly infectious even if you don’t. This is essentially a kind of adult panto – there is definitely a ‘he’s behind you’ moment with the shark – but all the more joyous for it. It deserves a longer run – they are not lying when they say ‘it’s got legs’ – and will hopefully resurface even bigger and better. But I hope it retains its ramshackle charm when it does.

Pavement Sharks is running at the Canal Cafe Theatre, Delamere Terrace, London W2 6ND on 13th, 16th and 17th May