Dealers Choice

Six adult males enjoy Sunday evening’s ‘friendly’ poker game after their restaurant has closed. If that were all then I would have slept soundly, but these players bring it to life with plenty of horse-play, only a little friction and some deeply-felt camaraderie.
Director Patric Kearns stepped in to play Stephen, the stern-but-kind patron. Matthew Zilch excels as Mugsy, a golden-hearted waiter and almost always a loser, brilliantly managing to be both adolescently irritating and endearingly optimistic while still keeping the audience on-side. It’s some feat that this gritty mix of sparring vulnerability comes across as both sensitive and caring.

Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne, 29 March 2016

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