THE Scary Bikers is John Godber's Brexit play, a two-hander where cyclists sharing a tandem ride across Europe come to terms with their polar opposite views.

Godber and his wife, the playwright and actress Jane Thorton, voted Remain but Godber plays a Brexiteer, redundant miner turned hospital porter Don, and Thornton, a Remainer, former private school teacher Carol, a failed artist who now runs a cycling café near York.

Brought together by bereavement, widower Don, 65, and widowed Carol, on the cusp of 60, set out on the day Britain held its fateful referendum, but will they fall out, fall off or stay the course on the bike despite their political differences? Find out at the newly refurbished Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, this week.

York Press:

Miner disagreement: John Godber's Don in The Scary Bikers. Picture: Antony Robling

Produced by the John Godber Company and Theatre Royal Wakefield, and written and directed by Godber, this new comedy addresses two themes: not only the impact of the Brexit vote but also loss and relationships post-bereavement, as Don and Carol travel across Europe in pursuit of reconciling the past, debating the present and worrying about the future.

"It gets more topical by the day, again responding to things going on in society in a cock-eyed manner as I've done before," says Godber, reflecting on the ubiquitous Brexit schism.

"What's fascinating is that we started the tour in Wakefield, then took it to Winchester, which had such differing votes. Jane and I voted Remain, but Wakefield [from where the John Godber Company operates] and Hull [where Godber was the artistic fulcrum of Hull Truck Theatre for so many years] both voted to Leave in significant numbers, and we've tried to reconcile with why that happened.

York Press:

Different views on Europe: John Godber's map-reading Don and Jane Thornton's Carol work out the best way forward in The Scary Bikers.

"There's been a dislocation between the people on the street and Westminster, and that goes back to the Miners' Strike, rather than immigration being the big issue. The North wanted to give Cameron a bloody nose, but thereafter things have become very complex and chaotic."

In The Scary Bikers, Godber focused on the Leave Battle Bus promise of £350,000 a week extra funding to the National Health Service. "That was the biggest piece of political deception over the past 60 years. Johnson and Gove were like two little schoolboys who'd got away with something," he says. "And whatever you voted for, it remains a live issue."

Prompted by the success of Le Grand Depart for the 2014 Tour de France and now the Tour de Yorkshire, Godber noted the potential for building a play around a cycle ride. "We've taken a bit of France and made it the Tour de Yorkshire, and I was then struck by the idea of having two people with polar opposite Brexit views sharing a tandem and having to work together to keep it going. Being stuck together on a tandem became a metaphor for our political times!"

Returning to the state of Brexit politics, Godber says: "I've come to the conclusion that the Conservatives just want to stay in power and they'll say anything to do that, which is like Italy in the time of the Borgias."

John Godber Company presents The Scary Bikers, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, until Saturday; performances at 1.30pm and 7pm tonight, 7.30pm tomorrow, and 2.30pm and 7.30pm on Saturday. Box office: 01723 370541 or at sjt.uk.com. The tour also visits Cast, Doncaster, April 26 to 29; 01302 303959 or castindoncaster.com​