WITH a title like this you could be forgiven for expecting a night of crude humour and sexist jibes. Instead we were treated to one of the best nights of home-grown comedy theatre to be enjoyed in a long time. Filled with laughter, pathos and consistently excellent performances Slappers and Slapheads was a real triumph. Penned by Liverpool duo Len Pentin and Fred Lawless, the action was set in The Palace, a city club with more than a passing resemblance to the infamous Grafton in West Derby. Pete Price made an early appearance as the club DJ adding his own brand of humour to get the audience in the mood and add an extra layer of realism as he introduced some disco classics. The plot centred on three girls, one heavily pregnant, one looking to get pregnant after her biological alarm clock went off, and another looking for a good time to forgot her terrible secret of a violent husband at home. Meanwhile three guys cruised the dancefloor, one looking for the ladies, Barry trying to sell insurance policies to get the bonus of a lifetime and Chris planning one last night of fun before returning to the Adelphi to kill himself before terminal cancer could. The cast of Gillian Hardie, Gina Lamb, Linzi Matthews, Liam Tobin, Michael Neary and Paul Duckworth were outstanding throughout, skilfully combining raucous slapstick with moving drama. THE FIRST half was packed to the rafters with visual and verbal gags but, after the interval, the mood turned, as drunken nights out in clubs often do. Despite the more serious topics of birth and death, Pentin and Lawless managed to keep the laughter coming and more than one audience member alternatively wiped away tears of mirth and sadness. It was a little tricky to work out when the ending was coming as a series of short vignettes finished the play with each character resolving their problems before heading into the night. But when the finale finally came, many of the audience rose to their feet to deliver a well-deserved standing ovation. They may have been slappers and slapheads but proved to be the perfect companions for another great night at the Liverpool Comedy Festival. | 
