Hampstead Theatre, London – until 7th June 2025
Reviewed by Celia Armand Smith
3***
Richard Bean’s 2010 adaptation of David Mamet’s House of Games brings the intriguing world of con artists and scammers to the Hampstead stage. There is a reason why podcasts and documentaries about people who inhabit this (of late largely online) space are so popular and Jonathan Kent’s production is a fun look at this world of devious thrills. .
In a bright tidy office, we meet Margaret (Lisa Dillon), a famous psychiatrist who is in session with trust fund kid turned gambler Billy (Oscar Lloyd). Billy is waving a gun around and talking about the shadowy world of the House of Games where he has racked up huge debts. Margaret, in need of new material for an upcoming book deadline does what anyone would do in this situation (?!) and decides to go and investigate. She goes down to the seedy dive bar, and it’s here we meet Mike (Richard Harrington) and his charismatic ragtag bunch of poker playing pals. There’s Bobby (Andrew Whipp) the hopeless Hell’s Angel bartender, George (Sion Tudor Owen) the sweary drunk distraction, and Joey (Robin Soans) the put together elderly gent in a suit and tie. As soon as she arrives to clear Billy’s debt, Margaret is drawn into the exciting world of confidence tricks and though she is there just to observe, she’s all in and the game is afoot.
Richard Bean’s adaptation does a commendable job of translating screen to stage especially in the utilisation of Mamet’s pacey dialogue and there is a feeling of low level peril throughout. It is however Ashley Martin-Davis’ split level set that is the star of the show. With fun little details in every corner, Margaret’s office is complete with Peter Mumford’s noir shutter blind lighting. The cleverest trick of the show being the switch from bar to office and back again.
At 100 minutes straight through, the pace doesn’t quite manage to maintain throughout, and what should be an exciting final reveal tails off with a dragging predictability. There is some great comic work from the gang of low level criminals, but it seems that this comes at the expense of some emotional depth.
Overall, House of Games is an entertaining evening. It’s clever, stylish, and slick, and no matter what the setting or the platform, I will always enjoy a tale of conmen, scammers and grifters.