They are rare, those people who are so comfortable in their own skin that they can swear they have never pretended to be something that they are not. Conmen and fugitives take impersonation to the limits, stealing other people's lives. But what about writers? They steal others' feelings and experiences and put them to their own use, and they live other lives through the creation of their characters. They are not quite themselves.
But in American John Corwin's absorbing little play, Kurt and Martin - one a successful writer, the other an apparent failure - go much further. Through treachery and circumstance they end up effectively living what might have been the life of the other.
The conundrum at the heart of this slow burn of an evening that unravels like an intellectual thriller is too crucial to the plot to give away. But Corwin uses it brilliantly to consider the slipperiness of truth, the nature of storytelling, the creative fictions we all weave and the authenticity of our own experience- indeed, to ask whether being acknowledged as a writer may actually turn you into one.
By rights this shouldn't work as theatre at all. Corwin's script takes the form of a series of intercut speeches from the four protagonists that only make a complete story when put together like a complicated jigsaw puzzle. Abigail Morris's brave production keeps it simple, with the four sitting in a line in comfy chairs and communicating more with the audience than with each other.
The dislocated effect is utterly compelling with overtones of both the therapist's consulting room and a more sedate version of the Jerry Springer Show. It creates a portrait of a vast, competitive, modern America where one big city is interchangeable with another and people lead fragmented, isolated lives. Friendship, love and companionship are disposable, only success is valued. Nobody connects.
The writing is clever and smart but has an ache at the heart of each laugh, and the stunning young cast don't miss a trick bringing out every nuance in the text. Not a huge play, but one to send you out into the night arguing about the rights and wrongs of Martin, Kurt, Iris and Liv's behaviour as if they were real people, not just figments of a writer's imagination.
Until October 7. Box office: 020-7478 0100.
***** Unmissable **** Recommended *** Enjoyable ** Mediocre * Terrible
