Gothic Theatre
Quadrophenia
Phil Daniels is the pent-up, parka wearing, pill-popping Jimmy whose need for tribal acceptance leaves his relationships in tatters. Based on the Who album, the gritty youth-centric realism blends laughs with symbolism, psychology and some driving rock music.
In 1964 London, Jimmy Cooper (Phil Daniels), is a member of a mod gang, well-dressed youths who ride Lambretta scooters. The mods are always fighting with Rockers, who wear black leather, ride motorcycles. Disillusioned by his parents and a dead end job in an advertising firm, Jimmy only finds an outlet for his teenage angst with his mod pals Dave (Mark Wingett), Chalky (Philip Davis) and Spider (Gary Shail). A three-day bank holiday is the excuse for the rivalry between the two gangs to come to a head, as they both descend upon the seaside town of Brighton.
When the armies of mods and rockers meet the next morning in Brighton, a riot breaks out first in a café, then bloodily on the beachfront, during the battle Jimmy and Steph (Leslie Ash) duck into an alley and start having sex against a brick wall. Later, Jimmy is arrested along with Ace (Sting), the mod gang leader who captures Jimmy’s imagination. Jimmy returns to London, only to discover his mother has found his drugs and throws him out of the house. He walks out of his job after being disciplined for arriving late for work, and after discovering Steph has taken up with his best friend decides to return to Brighton. Outside a hotel he sees Ace’ s scooter and for a moment his spirits are lifted, until he sees his hero is nothing more than a hotel bellboy. Jimmy, his last illusion shattered, steals Ace’s scooter and rides it out to the cliffs, after riding along the edge for a while he drives straight for the brink at top speed. At the last second he jumps off, and the scooter crashes on the rocks below.
