Dealer’s Choice

Published Thursday 4 October 2007 at 17:25 by Ben Dowell

One thing this high octane play about masculinity, trust, aggression and loyalty needs is a crackling ensemble - and under the direction of Samuel West it fizzes like a Catherine Wheel.

Patrick Marber’s 1995 play about a restaurant owner Stephen, his staff, their friends and a late night poker game - which tells you more than they would like about their lives and their unyielding, underlying aggression - is not to everybody’s taste.

But even people put off by its seediness, swagger, sense of ritual and macho posturing would agree any production needs real tension and menace to work and that’s precisely what is provided by everyone in this brilliant ensemble.

Even Ross Boatman’s tubby Sweeney - the nicest of the lot - threatens to explode from his grubby chef’s uniform and Roger Lloyd Pack’s turn as the sinister professional card shark Ash, who hatches a ruse with Stephen’s feckless son Carl (Samuel Barnett), manages to be fabulously threatening and pitiable at the same time.

Particular praise too to Malcolm Sinclair’s brilliantly dry witted Stephen and Stephen Wight who threatens to steal the show as the imbecilic Mugsy and who can’t help unwittingly getting to the truth of things.

His line about playing the man and not the hand is probably the lesson everyone in this sorry bunch needs to learn and he delivers it brilliantly. Terrific.