Image: 

Published: 3 February, 2011
by HOWARD LOXTON 

SHE’S watching the Autopsy Channel; he wants to watch porn. They end up watching a horror movie, but this couple on the bed in a New York hotel room aren’t lovers and they both have their clothes on. He’s like a brother, brought up by her parents after his mother’s death, but there is a strong dependency between them.

He is Max (caustically played by David Wilson Barnes, who created the role in the States), a whiz-kid sorting out the financial problems left by her probably bisexual father’s death.  

She is Suzanna, a trainee psychotherapist still hard hit by the tragedy – though her multiple sclerosis-stricken mother Susan has already found a toy boy partner (very practical; he costs less than a nurse).

Three months later, Suzanna herself is married to hard-up would-be writer Andrew. They set up a blind date between Becky – a seemingly lame duck from Andrew’s office – and Max. It’s never going to work but hard-done-by Becky is doggedly persistent. 

This is a complicated tale that flits between New York, Rhode Island, Boston and Virginia, swiftly switching from hotel room to park bench to modest home to glamorous apartment on Jonathan Fensom’s revolving set. 

Dramatist Gina Gionfriddo keeps giving things a twist and the play is very, very funny as she digs her scalpel into the US penchant for psychiatry, oblivious do-gooders and self-obsessed moneymen.

Peter DuBois’s production is beautifully cast with Anna Madeley as Suzanna, her emotions always near the surface. Newcomer Vincent Montuel plays naïve but stubborn Andrew, and Daisy Haggard plays Becky, getting the right mix of vulnerability and determination – a woman you help at your peril. There’s also a stunning performance from Haydn Gwynne as stubborn, cynical but so clear-sighted Susan.

Almeida drama tends to be serious, and this too has its serious undercurrents. But for a change, the audience spends most of the evening laughing. 

Thoroughly enjoyable and recommended.

Until March 5
020 7359 4404