Nick Darke, who died 10 years ago, wrote for Kneehigh, the Royal Court and others, and in his early work pinned down the rhythms of West Country working lives on land and sea. So it’s odd that one of his most regularly revived plays is this 1986 slice of Americana. It is executed with such a large dash of Shepard, a side order of Albee and a sprinkling of Miller, that if it was not for Darke’s instinctive quirkiness, it would be almost entirely pastiche.
Director Hannah Price never makes a convincing case for reviving this play, right here and right now, particularly as its sexual politics and its take on masculinity now look so hackneyed.
In a beach house on the California coast, Dolores and Hank, a failed travelling salesman, are 15 years into a marriage that has long lost its sparkle. Dolores fell for Hank when she saw him riding the surf with a monkey on his shoulder. Now, Hank is flabby and defeated and the monkey is dead. It is Dolores who gets a fresh start, which leads to a significant role-reversal in the beach hut.
The first half is pretty funny, but the situation and the dialogue run out of steam after the interval. Attention is held by an engaging and detailed central performance from James Lance, who gives Hank the air of a distressed, sometimes angry walrus, and by Ruth Gibson as Dolores, whose intimate way with animals increasingly extends to all kinds of beast – except her husband.
• At Park theatre, London, until 4 July. Box office: 020-7870 6876.
