Orphans by Lyle KesslerJermyn Street Theatre, 16b Jermyn Street, London SE1Y | until 24 January 2026 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review by William Russell

Photo credit: Charlie Flint.

Orphans

by Lyle Kessler

Jermyn Street Theatre, 16b Jermyn Street, London SE1Y | until 24 January 2026

⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review by William Russell

“Sinister, dangerous, dazzling play - well acted and directed.”

The shade of Pinter hangs heavily over this sinister and very well acted story of two brothers, Treat, played by Chris Walley, a violent mugger, and Phillip, played by Fred Woodley Evans, a repressed child man who never goes out believing the world to be too dangerous, living in their dingy family home somewhere in Philadelphia. Into their lives come Harold, an older man Treat has brought back in order to steal the contents of his briefcase. It is a big mistake. Lyle Kessler's 1983 play may be an American classic and it is certainly very funny and deeply sad at the same time, but it is not quite as new an experience for Jermyn Street audiences as its director Al Miller seems to think. They are well accustomed to the unusual, sinister and challenging. Harold, played by Forbes Mason, turns out not to be the well of drunk businessman he at first seems but, like the brothers, an orphan and a gangster well able to take care of himself. His arrival in the brothers' lives changes everything. Go find out how. It will make you laugh, shiver and even cry because it is about two very sad people, even if one of them is dangerous, having their lives changed for better – or worse. Walley conjures up a deeply nasty man who rules his brother's life completely and is capable of killing those he mugs – anyone who upsets him gets their deserts.  Ponder, for instance, that single red lady's shoe sitting on top of the television set. Where is the other one? Woodley Evans matches him creating a child man who hides in cupboards to escape his bullying brother, keeps the books he reads hidden, and existing as ordered on a diet of Hellman's mayonnaise and tuna. He is all tics and twitches and cunning. Then there is Forbes Masson as the apparently benign Harold whose surface charm when stripped away reveals someone far nastier than Treat could ever be and far more ruthless. Al Miller's perfectly paced production launches Jermyn Street's 2026 season in style. It also has a superb set by Sarah Beaton which manages to conjure up the dingy house and include that essential window onto the world outside into which Philip dares not go until, of course, Harold persuades him otherwise. It is one of the best to use the space the theatre provides. Play and the players really deserve a longer life than this three-week run.

Cast

Forbes Masson – Harold

Chris Walley – Treat

Fred Woodley Evans – Phillip

Creatives

Director – Al Miller

Set & Costume Designer – Sarah Beaton

Lighting Designer – Simeon Miller

Composer & Sound Designer – Donato Wharton

Fight Director – Enric Ortuno

Accent & Dialect Coach – Rebecca Clark Carey