Rebecca Lenkiewicz has written a good, strong, impassioned play about a Britain in which there is, literally, one law for the rich and another for the poor. For all its anger, there is also a generosity of spirit behind the piece. But it would be even better if Lenkiewicz’s compassion for society’s invisibles were accompanied by more in the way of intellectual conflict.
The play’s focus is on Gail: a 40-ish solicitor who runs a busy west London law centre, specialising in housing and immigration. Addicted to the law, Gail has little time left for a private life: two sharply written scenes show her having awkward encounters with prospective partners from an online dating service. Gail’s real energy, you feel, goes into trying to cope with the mess created by savage cuts to legal aid imposed by the coalition government in 2012: in particular, we see her dealing with a rehoused Irishman facing bills he can’t meet and a Pakistani immigrant viciously abused and enslaved by her husband and mother-in-law.
Lenkiewicz’s virtue is that she combines a sense of the big picture with an eye for telling detail. She is unequivocal in her condemnation of a society where destitution is regarded as a disease and those on benefits are classed as manipulative scroungers.
At the same time, there is a Dickensian eccentricity about two characters ebulliently played by Niall Buggy: one is the impoverished Irishman complaining about the difficulties of taking livestock on London transport; the other is a disgraced doctor posing on the internet as a dashing Dr Kildare who admires the poetry of Andrew Marvell.
But, although there are lively individual scenes and characters, Lenkiewicz doesn’t make enough of the impending threat to Gail’s law practice or allow her to meet anyone who might challenge her idealistic liberalism. Other than a discontented date seeking custody of his children, this Gail never encounters a real tornado.
Michael Oakley’s production makes good use of the musical interludes that punctuate each scene and is well staged and acted. Alexandra Gilbreath’s Gail is an utterly convincing portrait of an attractive midlife woman whose professional dedication exacts a heavy personal price. Nicholas Bailey as the angry father seeking access to his kids, Sirine Saba as both Gail’s helpmate and a maltreated immigrant and Scott Karim as a mother-dominated Pakistani all give highly accomplished performances. The play entertains as it informs, but one would like a drama with which one can occasionally argue as well as instinctively agree.
• At Bush theatre, London, until 15 August. Box office: 020-8743 5050.
