Programmed to coincide with Wimbledon, Oli Forsyth’s two-hander examines the challenges of nurturing a prodigy. Parents Nina and Ade think tennis is a sport for the privileged but when their daughter excels at it they make a huge investment in her career.
Immersed in a world they at first barely know, they surrender their own identities. As a result their relationship with their child comes to resemble a cold transaction.
Phoebe Pryce is fiercely direct as Nina, while Jonathan Livingstone’s Ade swerves between tenderness and fury. As the action hops back and forward in time, they take it in turns to play their monosyllabic, nameless daughter, who graduates from youthful promise to success before a troubling decline.
Katie Pesskin’s production is energetic but passionate piano and dazzling lights draw attention to the thinness of the material.
Details of career lows (abuse by a coach, a vengeful lawsuit) are dealt with hastily. Despite some moments of keen emotional intelligence, this 90-minute piece never takes an unexpected turn as it traces the missteps of parents who embody the clichés of the tennis world at its most brutal.
Until Jul 20 (020 7722 9301, hampsteadtheatre.com)
