House Of Games

Welcome to House Of Games, where the audience was seduced into the world of the con and the double-bluff. The stage wasn't driven by crime-fiction thrillers as much as the screen is but, for fans of the genre, New Theatre offered an exciting new play. The blurb described it as a "taut, funny, and sexy noir-thriller" and this scribe would tend to agree, but with a couple of asterisks.

The writing was sharp and the jokes flew. Characters were believable in a thriller-type way and the actors gave it their utmost. Mark Langham did a fantastic job at encapsulating the farcical elements, and Charles Jones' energy as the crazy kid was impressive. While the lead roles did provide a fairly solid performance, they lacked some of the chemistry that the height of the stakes mandated. Sometimes moments of passion or jokes came just a beat too late and undermined their ingenuity.

House Of Games suffered from being written for the screen and a director whose imagination outdid her stagecraft. The first set change from office to Chicago dive bar was titillating and cleverly done; the repeated changes to-and-fro and to-and-fro, became grating. It's not that the laborious changes inherently undermined the action, but the choice of accompanying music seemed random and was out of place; throw on some jazz or something that reflects the Chicago dive scene, not a mixtape found in the boot of the car.

Ambitious and a lot of fun, but not executed perfectly, House Of Games is a good night out, especially for those who like a story. A play about a con, and an entertaining one at that; if that tickles your fancy, get out and see it.