★★★

“diverting, packed with plot, character and incident”

Writer Richard Bean’s stage version of House of Games, directed by Jonathan Kent, is a theatrical sleight-of-hand that both honours and undercuts its source. Adapted from David Mamet’s 1987 film and story, the play tries to pull off a double con: replicating the clipped tension of Mamet’s neo-noir while layering in jokes, cartoonish supporting characters, and a dash of caper comedy.

The result, though often entertaining, is tonally confused – a production unsure whether it wants to unsettle or amuse.

The story follows Margaret (Lisa Dillon), a buttoned-up Harvard clinical psychoanalyst and successful writer. Bored with her uptown life, she becomes embroiled in the seductive world of low-rent grifters after she tries to rescue a client Billy Hahn (Oscar Lloyd) from a gambling debt.

She enters the titular House of Games – a down-at-heel Chicago bar – and meets smooth Mike, (Richard Harrington) a charming hustler whose world of deceit both appals and excites her. Margaret is inspired to research another book which provides her with an excuse to hang around and (improbably) play bit parts in Mike’s cons, a transgression fuelled by a growing passion for her bad boy lover.

As the scams multiply, so do the psychological twists, leading to a final turn that should, in theory, leave the audience reeling.

But where Mamet’s film presented its narrative with razor-edged minimalism – quick cuts, shadows, tight silences – the stage version feels the need to say everything out loud, slowly and with a chirpy smile.

The introduction of a broad comic sidekicks and the abundance of wisecracks contribute to an atmosphere closer to a sub-Ocean’s 11 pastiche than a psychological thriller. The quipping gang have plenty of character to play with – Robin Soans’ veteran Joey particularly fun – but the gags come at the expense of any menace and tension.

Bean’s script confines all the action to just two locations and designer Ashley Martin-Davis pursues the trend for double-decker stages, the clinical therapist’s office above, the sleazy, dimly lit bar below.

While the con-games themselves are nicely choreographed, they are also well telegraphed. And, by now, Bean’s boosterish urges have erased all thoughts of Mamet’s moral bleakness.

For all its inconsistencies, the production is diverting, packed with plot, character and incident.

The audience, like Margaret, is willingly drawn into the performance’s web of duplicity. There’s a sly thematic resonance here: theatre itself is a con, asking viewers to believe in fictions. This adaptation leans into that idea, sometimes too heavily, but never without flair.

The tricks may be familiar, but the ride is fun.

DOGS ON THE METRO

Live Theatre

★★★★★

“a clever, meaningful, and essential piece of theatre”

‘Dogs on the Metro’ at the Live Theatre is a precise and important reflection on adolescence, friendship, and consent. Masterfully written by Emilie Robson and directed by Maria Crocker, this personal two-hander is a force to be reckoned with, over it’s quick-paced and concise 60-minute course.

The show follows the fluctuating friendship of Jen (Sarah Balfour) and Dean (Dean Logan) and explores how boundaries can be pushed and taken to their limits as the two grow up together. Robson has created deeply fascinating and complex characters whose world and views the audience become quickly invested with. She creates a very tactile world with her language where “skin is made of needles” and the “room is made of balloons” and leaves the audience gasping for air from beginning to end.

The ambiguity of Jen and Dean’s relationship and their conflict hits every note, and pack punches as Balfour and Logan deliver every heart-wrenching moment with deep sincerity. Balfour’s confusion, frustration, and inner conflict feels wholly genuine, as does Logan’s characterisation of insecurity and immaturity. Both have a chilling chemistry and power to command the audience’s entire attention to their self-doubt and discomfort, conjuring goosebumps with the drop of hat.

One of the shining features of the piece is its deft connection to its place and time. ‘Dogs on the Metro’ is set mostly between metro carriages and house parties in Newcastle and utilises its clarity and ambiguity of destination to its fullest. Robson remarkably and gorgeously integrates Geordie dialect and place into a piece which reflects broader culture around platonic intimacy, gender, and boundaries. The characters and their familiarity with one another and their journey to and from home, school, and friend’s houses works so well amongst the murkiness of the story Jen urgently tries to take ownership of. As the non-linear story fractures and unfolds, the unreliability of the narration becomes more and more intriguing, and paints an impactful and deep-cutting message surrounding consent. The audience is led to trust and distrust as the plot thickens, and Crocker’s beautiful direction of the non-chronological structure does well to keep pace with the uncertainty and double meaning which the script dances with. For example, when Jen and Dean open the story, crossing over each other, it feels instantly playful and youthful; as the story develops, this technique takes on a fascinating new meaning around manipulation of narratives and truth.

It is hard to understate how complete ‘Dogs on the Metro’ feels. The script and the actors constantly flit around images, anecdotes, and ideas; none of which are wasted. ‘Dogs on the Metro’ feels wholly thought-through and tight. This goes for all aspects of design, too. From Amy Watts’ metro carriage set design which is creatively shifted between scenes to cage the characters into a claustrophobic atmosphere, to Drummond Orr’s sharp and engaging lighting design which emulates the flash a metro hurtling through a tunnel as well as an awkward early 2010s house party. Matthew Tuckey’s sound design is particularly entrancing and works electrically with the script to enhance sinister and tense moments. The crash of the metro carriage crescendoing with Balfour’s anger and upset, is an especially tactful way of exploring the ambiguity, anxiety, and self-doubt Jen experiences. All of these elements working together so firmly is utterly breath-taking.

‘Dogs on the Metro’ is a clever, meaningful, and essential piece of theatre, exploring consent and adolescence with beautiful clarity and intention.

HOUSE OF GAMES

Hampstead Theatre

★★★

“diverting, packed with plot, character and incident”

HOUSE OF GAMES

Hampstead Theatre

Reviewed on 12th May 2025

by Giles Broadbent

Photography by Manuel Harlan

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:

HOUSE OF GAMES

HOUSE OF GAMES

HOUSE OF GAMES

DOGS ON THE METRO

Live Theatre

★★★★★

“a clever, meaningful, and essential piece of theatre”

DOGS ON THE METRO

Live Theatre

Reviewed on 6th May 2025

by Molly Knox

Photography by Von Fox Promotions

Previously reviewed at this venue:

DOGS ON THE METRO

DOGS ON THE METRO

DOGS ON THE METRO

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