Finn Cole Photo Credit Johan Persson
Sinon Jenner July 18th 2024
Is water thicker than blood? And what’s in that blood? It’s not entirely clear to some by the end of Lucas Hnath’s 2013 play Red Speedo, which has its UK premiere directed by Matthew Dunster at the Orange Tree till August 10th. But they certainly mix in this four-hander plunging 90 minutes into swimming qualifiers, sibling bullying and the crux of this play, doping.
Ray (Finn Cole) is poised for the Olympic squad. But there’s some dope discovered in the communal fridge, pointing to him. Smart brother lawyer Peter (Ciaran Owens), who wants to move into sports management is under no illusions. Get rid of it and indeed Coach (Fraser James) for a better deal Peter can cut in on.
But Ray needs those drugs for tomorrow’s trials. Only his ex Lydia can supply them, and Ray allowed her to get shafted by thoroughly unpleasant Peter and struck off as a sports coach which, it transpires, Ray could have prevented; since he overheard Peter colluding with her prosecutor. That’s why she’s bitterly Ray’s ex.
Peter speed-talks Mamet-style past his school dropout bro Ray who never appears in more than speedo trunks emerging from the swimming pool (more of this classic go-to Orange Tree immersion later).
Not that Ray’s innocent, likeable or that dumb. Hnath portrays him too as fast enough talking, capable of some eloquence. Indeed to calibrate his lack of sharpness Hnath resorts to malapropisms like “psychopath” for “psychosomatic” to underline Ray’s meat-headedness. But his dependence, his palpable resorts and his capitulation to those stronger-willed and witted than him is convincing.
In a play of steam-hammer monologues finding Ray desperate to cut in, it’s ultimately about fairness and its distortions: in this instance dope. ”In my case, they make it fair” Ray stammers. ”Affirmative action?” Peter asks incredulously.
Finn Cole Photo Credit Johan Persson
Everyone is wholly self-interested. Even Coach is desperate to keep Ray, though seems upright. Swayed every which way, Ray resorts to whoever can get him the dope he’s convinced he needs.
The single scene in which Lydia (Parker Lapaine) appears twists with palpable hurt and brinkmanship. Lydia protests the only drugs she has are for her ailing cat. Lapaine like Cole making her stage debut (both appear in films) twirls on the verge of forever leaving, hardly persuaded by the ring Ray’s brought. Surely Ray can’t turn back the clock?
So when we see Ray suddenly gleaming, qualified and miserable the plot’s volte-faces bounce off the walls like a swimming-pool acoustic. It’s hilarious and dangerous. When Ray collapses this work lurches darkly indeed when Peter refuses to call an ambulance. Then Hnath unleashes surprises absurd and unstable. Ray admits to something Peter unravels. A confrontation seems Greek in its elemental struggle, with a difference.
This is a zig-zag, disturbingly hilarious work. For those who know Hnath through the Donmar’s 2022 production of A Doll’s House Part 2 it exhibits a drama closer to Mamet (there is a whiff of Glengarry Glen Ross about this) as well as the U.S. sports world. The Orange Tree in producing two sporting-themed plays (Testmatch in April) either side of the Coward triptych shows it renewing its tradition under Tom Littler.
In an exhilarating production, Anna Fleischle’s blue-painted surfaces (lead scenic artist Anita Gander) reveals a single-lane swimming pool enjoying dramatic usage; where Cole immerses himself 40 seconds. Sally Ferguson’s sometimes bewitching lighting, Cat Fuller’s assistant designing and lean costumes are all streamlined. Holly Khan’s sound mostly Roy Orbison’s ‘You Got It’ comments wryly on co-dependency. Claire Llewellyn’s fight direction is spectacularly detailed and Aundrea Fudge proves as ever the go-to U.S. dialect coach in carefully-differentiated registers. Hnath defines a different rhythm for each.
Fraser James, Finn Cole and Ciaran Owens Photo Credit Johan Persson
Owens is superb as feral lawyer Peter, coaxing a zit of humanity from a family man who stands to lose everything. Owens simmers Peter one degree from psychotic bully. James has slightly less to do, yet his upright, deliberating Coach owns sideways gambits you never credit.
Lapaine in her single scene impresses, moving round Cole, body pointed to exit, eyes, somewhere else. A debut only exceeded by Cole whose presence, where in trunks he has nowhere to hide, brilliantly suggests grasping at others’ motives just outside his reach; using limited cunning to trip over his own. It’s a tour-de-force and seals this riveting play whose resolution recedes in the fast lane.
Red Speedo
Orange Tree Theatre a Co-Production with David Adkin
Orange Tree Theatre Richmond
http://www.orangetreetheatre.co.uk
Finn Cole and Ciaran Owens Photo Credit Johan Persson
Writer Lucas Hnath, Director Matthew Dunster, Set Designer Anna Fleischle, Associate Set Designer & Costume Designer Cat Fuller, Lighting Designer Sally Ferguson, Sound Designer & Composer Holly Khan
Casting Director Matilda James CDG, Fight Director Claire Llewellyn, Voice and Dialect Coach Aundrea Fudge, Costume Supervisor Charlotte Murray
Lead Scenic Artist Anita Gander, Scenic Artists Sophir Firth, Emma Turner, Roma Farnell, Hannath Sutherland, El Emma Rose, Assistant Director Llona Sell, Makeup Artist Zara Tames
Production Manager Lisa Hood, Production & Technical Director Paul Bell, Stage Manager on book Lisa Cochrane, CSM Jenny Skivens, ASM Claire Hill, Production Electrician Lizzie Donaldson
Till August 10th