With Dealer’s Choice playing at the Donmar, and this production opening at Hampstead, the risks and temptations of gambling are very much at the centre of London theatre-going, with talk of ‘tells’ and ‘marks’ highlighting hidden layers of devious deception. But while the first focuses more narrowly on the thrills of poker, this adaptation of a Mamet screenplay is a broader kind of thriller altogether. Its focus is the art of the American con-trick, here focused on a tightly focused group, but also used as a general and broader metaphor for a gouging society.
The setting is Chicago, and the tone self-consciously film noir; but the key to its success is the quality of the acting and the credibility of both the deceptions and the raw authenticity that ultimately unravels them.
The action alternates between two levels: up above a professional consulting room in subdued, impeccably cool, tones; and down below a shabby dive, with a meagre bar, basic furniture and card table. Ashley Martin-Davis’ set encapsulates not just the key locations but key polarities for the central character, Dr Margaret Ford. She is a therapist boosted by a recent best-seller on obsessive behaviour, and fascinated with the psychology of risk. We meet her in consultation with a troubled, young, compulsive gambler who threatens to end his life with a gun. She is persuaded to visit his gambling den with the ambition of persuading Mike, the presiding figure, to waive the debt. She succeeds in that, but only by being drawn into the science of the con itself. Both intrigued and repelled, she gets more deeply involved both with Mike himself and the practice of financial deception under the pretext of research for a future book.
At this point, as in any good thriller, with the dramatic mechanism in motion, the reviewer has to draw a veil over what happens next.
Suffice to say, there is a veritable slalom race of plot twists and revelations, and no one is ultimately what they appear to be. The street-smart dialogue is bracingly funny and director Jonathan Kent ensures the pace never slackens however many switches there are between the two sets. The wide range of supporting characters is without weakness, and even those that are lightly drawn make a feisty, acid-etched contribution.
However, what ratchets up the tensions to a truly memorable level is the compelling realistic power of the central relationship between Lisa Dillon as Margaret and Richard Harrington as Mike. There is a real slow-burn chemistry between them which allows you to suspend disbelief in the switchback revelations, and focus instead on their astonishment as each of these consummate professionals gradually dismantles their emotional fences. Paradoxically, it is the realism that provides the unexpected overdrive to the thriller. This romantic core is the pearl that burnishes this theatrical oyster.
There is not enough space to do justice to all the excellent players, but among the other performances that stand out are Joanna Brookes as a deliciously acerbic and unillusioned receptionist, Andrew Whipp as the gormless barman, Bobby, who keeps on nearly giving the game away, and Oscar Lloyd as the apparently brittle and entitled trustafarian. The play fizzes past in no time at all and represents a compelling night out for anyone with a taste for tart dialogue and elegant, edgy frissons.
I should say that I do not know the film that is the first incarnation of this story; but there is no doubt that this plot, where absolutely everyone is acting out multiple different roles, could not be better conceived for a theatre.
Richard Bean, after David Mamet
Director: Jonathan Kent
Cast: Joanna Brookes, Lisa Dillon, Richard Harrington, Oscar Lloyd, Kelly Price, Robin Soans, Sion Tudor Owen, Laurence Ubong Williams, Andrew Whipp
Until 7 June 2025
1 hr 45 mins, no interval
Photo Credit: Manuel Harlan