Donmar Warehouse – until 7 June 2025
Reviewed by Claire Roderick
4****
Patrick Marber’s debut play, written in 1995, is a tense and darkly funny slice of male bravado and addiction. It’s Saturday night at Stephen’s London restaurant, and the staff are getting ready for their weekly poker game.
Stephen (Daniel Lapaine) insists his son Carl (Kasper Hilton-Hille), who he thinks is recovering from his gambling addiction, plays to learn discipline. Their fractured relationship drives the play, with Lapaine nailing Stephen’s acute need to be in control of his addiction and everything around him. His thoughtless insults are at odds with his acts of seeming kindness – but is this kindness heartfelt or simply keeping the staff exactly where he wants them?
With one staff member absent, there is some doubt about whether the game can take place, with everyone badgering chef Sweeney (Theo Barklem-Biggs) to join them instead of having a quiet night before a rare visit with his young daughter. Sweeney knows he is an addict and his acquiescence after lots of matey banter is inevitable.
The game is upended when Carl brings along his “ex-teacher” Ash (Brendan Coyle – delivering a masterclass in dangerous, watchful stillness tinged with regret). Carl has not recovered, and Ash has been bankrolling his losing streak, but now Ash’s own debts have been called, Carl must pay up. Having assured Ash that he can win all the money he needs from this game, Ash joins and looks on in amused silence at the histrionics played out around him. With the mantra, play the man, not the cards repeated, Ash is probably on to a winner.
The game appears to be the safest place for this hapless codependent crew. Debts are chased half-heartedly between the staff as they know they have nowhere to go, and debts to Stephen are sorted out in unpaid overtime. The banter and abuse they fling thoughtlessly at each other is written beautifully and is instantly recognisable. Alfie Allen’s Frankie is the biggest tiddler in this tiny pond – bragging about his success with women and winning regularly enough to ignite a pipedream of a life as a professional gambler in Vegas. A dream shattered by Ash with a quietly devastating performance from Allen.
The underlying sadness and hopelessness of these characters contrasts with Hammed Animashaun’s Mugsy – bouncing around with eternal optimism and childlike energy. His business plans with Carl (terrible choice of business partner) are shot down by everyone, but he refuses to give up. Animashaun is a joy to watch, bringing heart to the play but also giving hints of a darker side to Mugsy when he is frustrated and feels no one takes him seriously.
Marler’s writing is astute and witty, making poker accessible to an uninitiated audience and nodding to the ridiculousness of some convoluted games with Mugsy’s Nightmare – devised and explained by Mugsy. The older players decry wildcards as relying on luck rather than skill, but this is the only way Mugsy can win as his self-declared skills are practically non-existent. Matthew Dunster’s taut direction builds the tension wonderfully and Moi Trans set – a stark kitchen/restaurant has a fantastic Donmar transformation into the cellar where the game takes place in the second act.
Tense, funny and surprisingly moving as a study of addiction and male fragility, Dealer’s Choice is a wonderfully entertaining play that has stood the test of time.