‘At the beginning of this year, Mat Whitecross’ freewheeling biopic Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll chronicled the life of Ian Dury from his formative years, when he contracted polio, leaving him paralysed down the left side of his body, to pills, thrills and bellyaches of the 1970s, when he neglected his wife Betty and children, and pursued a turbulent relationship with girlfriend Denise. The film was every bit unconventional and fantastical as the man himself, interspersed with spirited renditions of some of Dury’s best-loved songs.

Rather than cramming the entire life of The Blockheads’ singer into 90 minutes, writer-director Jeff Merrifield elects to focus on three pivotal periods in his energetic stage production, Hit Me! The Life And Rhymes Of Ian Dury. So rather than dwelling on his Dickensian childhood at boarding school for disabled children, Merrifield begins Dury’s journey in 1978 and concludes in March 2000 – when tour manager and devoted friend Fred ‘Spider’ Rowe receives the sickening telephone call about Dury’s premature death from liver cancer. ‘I kept putting off going to see him. Why did I do that? I should have f***ing gone,’ laments Fred (Josh Darcy), unable to comprehend the loss of a flawed maestro, who lived life to the excess and carved out his niche as the forefather of punk.

The play opens at Cats**t Mansions, Kennington (Dury’s affectionate name for his top flat floor at 40 Oval Mansions) just as Ian (Mark White) is making his mark on the music scene as the gregarious frontman of The Blockheads. Andrew Lloyd Webber calls to see If the singer would be interested in providing the lyrics for a new musical about cats and after consultation with Fred, Ian politely declines. ‘Andrew Lloyd W****r,’ chuckles the tour manager, not realising then what they were turning down. The pair bicker like siblings and Ian flourishes, getting a huge buzz every time he steps onto the stage: ‘I got all the adrenaline I used to get breaking the law. Rock ‘n’ Roll – it’s the perfect crime!’ he grins. Fred talks to us with great affection about Ian, describing him as someone who would ‘stand up for all the people who drew the short straw in life: the colourful, cockney characters’ and relating his girlfriend Denise’s words: ‘She said you were an extraordinary ordinary person. I think that’s a beautiful phrase.’

Part two moves to Digby Mansions in Hammersmith in 1990, where he recalls his early years at the Royal College Of Art. ‘I was thrilled when I got into the RCA. Peter Blake was our tutor,’ he boasts. ‘In the end I became a pop star because it was easier than being a painter.’ The relationship between manager and star becomes increasingly strained and Fred arrives at the flat one day to discover the place in disarray. ‘I love what you’ve done with the place,’ he jokes. Part three is set in Keinton Mandeville, Somerset, where Fred receives the tragic news. Just when it seems like the play might end on a downer, Merrifield veers from reality to fantasy and ends as he begins – with a rousing musical number.

Hit Me! The Life And Rhymes Of Ian Dury is a terrific two-hander that provides an intimate portrait of the friendship between two very different men. Darcy and White inhabit their roles with real energy, the former impersonating Janet Street Porter, who interviewed Ian about his impact on the music scene. ‘Couldn’t understand a word she said,’ quips Ian. Performances of Billericay Dickie and Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick get toes tapping throughout the Debating Hall and give us plenty of reasons to be cheerful.’