★★★★☆
Four Stars
According to Cameron Cook, who directs Dealer’s Choice as well as playing Mugsy, the brilliance of the script is that “the words are very funny”. This sums up the appeal of the play, which is being performed at the Burton Taylor in 8th week.
There is something ineffably pleasing about the dialogue Patrick Marber has written. Marber is, like Cook, an ex-Revue man, and the script is clearly the product of a mind used to fast-paced sketch humour. The scenes I saw did not contain contrived set pieces, absurd slapstick or even many laugh-out-loud lines. Rather, as a motley crowd of hucksters, shysters and gamblers gather in London’s East End for a poker game, there is a constant flow of conversation as the cast rattle through a script which doesn’t waste its words.
As an audience member, it is a strangely soothing experience. We are privy to the private conversations of characters who are clearly very close, exchanging insults and one-liners in (often questionable) Cockney accents. It is like being amongst friends; the experience is curiously restful whilst also providing a chuckle on almost every line. That said, the actors face an uphill struggle to make a low-key play set around kitchen tables and battered sofas visually engaging, and the scenes I saw would benefit from stronger direction.
A delightfully sardonic vocal performance from Markian Mysko von Schultze as Sweeney, for example, was marred by weak physical interpretation — despite playing a chef, there was no need for him to mime vegetable preparation for ten minutes. Cook himself sometimes slipped into clichéd use of gesture. In general, the onus is on the director to add dynamism to scenes which are currently well-rehearsed but lack vitality.
The action develops significantly from the relatively light-hearted opening, as themes of gambling, avarice and sexual tension come up throughout the play. Of the three actors I saw perform, Andy Laithwaite as Frankie appears to have best incorporated these subtleties into his character, with his wisecracks tempered by an undercurrent of brooding arrogance. The well-delivered lines with Cook attempting to coerce von Schultze into playing in the pivotal poker game exposed themes of addiction, and showcased the complex emotions in the play.
The play hinges on quick-fire humour but also on relationships, as we realise these men are “all losers” in life, not just at the poker table. Cook has done well to assemble a competent and engaging cast who can handle the darker side of this blackly comic piece as well as the jokes.
Cook described the script as “tight” in its quickfire humour. What is required now is innovative and assertive direction to ensure the play is equally tight in performance. I am confident this impressive cast will, come opening night, find the effervescence and pace the play needs to come alive.
