A good dose of theatre verite takes over the top tier of the Old Fitz pub as resident production company curate the first of a new series of performances, THIRTY THREE.

THIRTY THREE is not only the title of the play but the capacity of audience allocation as viewers sit along three walls and watch a dinner party thrown by Sas to celebrate her thirty-third birthday degenerate into a debauched debacle.Sas is excited that her recent sexual conquest is coming to the party, but one prospect she did not anticipate is the presence of her estranged sibling, her younger brother, Josh.

Cue a pre party preamble about paternal shortcomings and the bad boy’s failure to attend their father’s funeral and then the invited guests begin to arrive.

First is Mayer, Sas’s sassy solicitor gal-pal, who wants to make sure that her bogus story that she stayed over at Sass’s place is sustained should it come up in conversation when Mayer’s husband, Tim, arrives.

Hubby does arrive with obnoxious extrovert pal in tow, insistent on the revelers downing lethal shots of liquor.

Another guest arrives solo, after announcing that she has split from her lesbian lover.

The booze flows, the emotional bruises show, coke is snorted, grievances sorted, spliffs are inhaled, relationships impaled.

An energetic and enthusiastic ensemble consisting of James Bell, Ben Dalton, Rose Maher, Georgia Scott, Sam Trotman and Jessica Wren crash through the cliches, stomp through the suds and tear the telegraphing to create viable and readily identifiable characters.

THIRTY THREE is written by Michael Booth and Alistair Powning, directed by Booth, and it’s a free form rollicking show, using the space nicely to create a fly on the wall perspective, a veritable virtual reality.

Tip: For best all round sight lines, sit at the head of the table.