To Sleep

Matt Fox’s two-hander is a curate’s egg of a play, at times curiously affecting, at others merely curious. With three chairs, unsubtle lighting and crude sound, the stage is set perfectly for the two characters to explore their respective weaknesses, self-loathing and suicidal tendancies. Fox shows a good turn of phrase, and the actors at one point weave a spell convincing enough for an audience member to pass out. It’s tough to deal with difficult subjects without ranting, and To Sleep made a good fist of it, but, ultimately, with its ‘knowing teen, idiot adult’ and Lolita cliché, it over-egged its pudding.

The Marlborough Theatre, 30 January 2014
Rating:
Pete Langman