Arcola Theatre – until 29 March 2025
Reviewed by Claire Roderick
4****
The decision to confront the man who has been having a steamy correspondence with your wife when that man is locked up in a high-security psychiatric hospital may not be the wisest thing to do, but Dave tends to follow his heart rather than his head.
Dave (Ben Simpson) starts writing to Martin (Alex Mugnaioni), and goes to visit him in the hospital, Clearpoint, described by a fellow visitor as looking “like Hogwarts, but with more locks.” Martin, obviously bored with the fellow inmates and staff, listens to Dave listing his wife’s other affairs and agrees to stop writing to Dave’s wife. In return he will help Dave rekindle the sparks in his marriage and become a stronger man. Martin’s toying with Dave, and his willingness to appear amiable, is puzzling until it is revealed that his review is approaching and having a friend who visits and could perhaps write a positive reference is his new strategy to get transferred out to prison.
Martin’s crimes are never explicitly mentioned, apart from ominous statements about reading the transcripts and a delightful squirm and groan from Dave when he finally finds the correct Martin Miller on Google. Madeleine Brettingham’s hilarious script doesn’t need Martin’s past to be described, as the manipulation and cruelty he displays are enough to make you squirm. What makes him terrifying is the ease with which he can flash a suave smile and turn on the charm.
The odd couple bromance that develops is obviously one-sided at first, and the chemistry between the actors is glorious as hapless and trusting Dave is bamboozled by Martin’s advice laced with barely hidden barbs and insults. Getting relationship advice and life coaching from a psychopath has never been so funny. As Dave’s life turns around and he appears to have found true happiness, Martin’s focus is on getting that statement from him, and when both their worlds implode, their reaching out for each other makes their connection finally feel authentic and allowing Martin a tiny hint of redemption – or could he just be bored again?
Alex Mugnaioni is electric as Martin. Picture every comic, intelligent, suave, slightly psychotic cad character from British film and TV, and that’s what you get in Martin – a mashup of simmering anger and performative patronising intelligence. Just brilliant. Ben Simpson’s Dave is the Penfold to Mugnaioni’s Dangermouse, apologetic and never quite believing that he deserves happiness. The pair deliver a masterclass in physical comedy as they twitch or squirm.
Brettingham has written a fantastically bizarre relationship between the two men, with supporting characters that cast light on their true connection. Edward Judge irritates Martin as both a fellow patient and a potential new “friend” with wide eyed and endearing innocence, and the wonderful Amelia Donkor plays the female characters in the men’s lives, matching Martin’s intellect as the coldly professional psychiatrist.
Wiebke Green directs with a sure touch and Kit Hinchliffe’s stark institutional white set is lit beautifully by Lucia Sánchez Roldán and Julia Starr’s sound design creates an intimate and sometimes claustrophobic atmosphere.
A show about a psychopath manipulating an innocent shouldn’t be this funny, but Madeleine Brettingham’s fantastic dark comedy explores the need for connection and delivers plenty of laugh out loud moments. A show not to be missed.