THE LYING KIND. To 11 January.

London

THE LYING KIND
by Anthony Neilson

Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Downstairs To 11 January 2002
Mon-Sat 7.30pm Mat Sat 3.30pm
Runs 1hr 45min No interval

TICKETS 020 7565 5000
Review Timothy Ramsden 7 December

Christmas cheer from the Royal Court comes up with a lumpy comedy pud. "'ello,'ello. What 'ave we 'ere? Are you cer-laiming to be responsible for these 'ere farcical proceedings? Well, I know you, my son. You are no other than Anthony Neilson, well known around these parts for perpetrating some of the most downright – in-yer-face as you might say – dramas of recent years. And you're asking me to believe you are up for something comical, ju–hust because it's Christmas? Pull the other one. You're nicked my son."

Police constables Gobbel and Blunt, whose front-stage duologue begins this play, might be confounded when the apprehended Mr Neilson asks for his puckish Night Before Christmas to be taken into consideration. But that runs under an hour. Full-length comedy takes a lot more skill.

Generally, Neilson's better at getting into situations than at getting back out. There's a Christmas kind of theme too, stitched up in the punning title. Telling lies out of kindness leads to trouble. New cop on the block Gobbel can't even bring himself to ring a doorbell to tell parents their daughter's dead. Thomas Fisher has all the fresh-faced naivety of the new lad, if at times over-doing the smiling inanity. And beat-hardened Blunt, a fine display of grizzled desperation under adverse plot circumstances from Darrell D'Silva, isn't going to help.

After a painful, story-establishing encounter with the terrifying Gronya – Andrea Newman's determined, no argument character would be decried as misogynistic if her anti-paedophile vigilantism didn't put her among the politically incorrect – the cops finally enter the suburban family haven of heart-troubled Balthasar and mind-crazed Garson.

There are some good laughs to be had, but some dead patches too. Frenzy alone can't hold a full-length farce together. Plot-lines tend to peter out: pederastic suspicions fall on the priest out of nowhere, and the circumstantial evidence is unconvincingly explained away.

Purportedly dead animals give good value, yet the resolution of the fate of the couple's daughter is desperately strained while Garson's mental distraction is humiliatingly presented. So it's swings and roundabouts rather than a funfair.

Gobbel: Thomas Fisher
Blunt: Darrell D'Silva
Gronya: Andrea Newman
Garson:Sheila Burrell
Balthasar: Patrick Godfrey
Father Shandy: Matthew Pidgeon
Carol: Kellie Shirley

Director: Anthony Neilson
Designer: Bob Bailey
Lighting: Chahine Yavroyan
Sound: Neil Alexander
Fight director: Terry King
Company voice work: Patsy Rodenburg

2002-12-10 15:14:22