First of all, for those who have not yet visited the Donmar Warehouse, let me tell you that it is a lovely little theatre. For the calibre of productions it houses I must admit that I expected something far more grand and lofty and a lot less intimate, and was pleasantly surprised. In the stalls section, the seating is an arrangement of tiered benches around a thrust stage that is level with the front row allowing all-encompassing immersion in the play. With my feet rested on the stage, I felt like a fly on the wall, dangerously close to joining in the dialogue of this brilliant play.
The action of the play circulates around the world of 'no-win no-fee' compensation claims in a modest solicitors' office, run by Andrew Eagleman and Barry Paterson, specialising in personal injury claims. While they stand in the midst of their struggle for business, an old school friend of Andrew, Kevin Needleman, is struggling to make ends meet for his growing family. They work together to stage an accident that culminates in a fraudulent claim for compensation in a bid to serve both of their fraught circumstances, but the conflict escalates, and the group are unexpectedly taken to court.
For a story that brings our own society's attitude towards morality under the microscope, the light, bright, crippling humour in Nick Payne's writing maintains our sympathy with some otherwise revolting characters. Kevin, immaculately played by Marc Wootton, provides the majority of the darkness to the play while Monica Dolan's perfect performances as both the quirky taxi driver Anne and the nauseatingly pretentious defence lawyer Georgina, provides a considerable portion of the light. Of note also is Nigel Lindsay's performance as Barry for some one-liners that are utterly unmissable and a raw, if somewhat unexplained, sensitivity to his past.
Indeed, there are some loose ends to the characters' back stories that the play would benefit from tying up, if only for the sake of letting us understand and warm to them more. Daniel Mays' performance as Andrew Eagleman is particularly good, but his character does not vary enough to see the full range of emotion that we would expect. Regardless, Mays pushes the boundaries as far as he can and leads the production with a real, captivating energy. Trivialities aside, for the sake of a play that is undoubtedly enjoyable and furtively intriguing, this production meets the requirements with effortless naturalism. The deft direction by John Crowley brings us into a world unknown to most of us with a thrilling pace and the uncompromising honesty that renders an audience unaware of much beyond the truth of the lives portrayed before them.
'The Same Deep Water As Me' plays at the Donmar Warehouse until 28th September.
Tickets £7.50- £35
For bookings, go to: www.donmarwarehouse.com
Running time 2h 10 min including interval.
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