A social satire from Martin Crimp, Dealing With Clair follows a young estate agent who juggles a selfish couple with their newborn and a strange cash buyer who deals exclusively with Clair. Estate agency is a topic rarely found of dramatic interest, but in this piece directed flawlessly by Richard Twyman, we’re on the edge of our seats. It’s an unsettling work of art.
Price I paid: £12.50.
Where I got the tickets: Orange Tree website
Tickets range from: £12.50-£25
Theatre: Orange Tree Theatre
Dates: 26th October – 1st December
Rating: ★★★★★
Mike and Liz want to sell their London home. James is an art-dealer with just the right amount of cash they’re looking for. Trapped between them, trying to orchestrate a deal is Clair, an estate agent who assumes this is just another house, just another sale.
Set in a minimally-furnished gauze box in the middle of the stage, this play feels more intimate than anything else I’ve seen at the Orange Tree before. We feel as though we’re voyeurs in these negotiations. Lizzy Watts takes up the role of Clair with an innocence we sympathise with — she has such a nuanced performance that the audience are endeared to her. This is greatly opposed by the bumbling idiocy of Mike (Tom Mothersdale), who is one half of the couple trying to sell their London home for an ever-growing price and his wife Liz (Hara Yannas) who is the caricature we’re all used to seeing in our local coffee shop — the mother with a baby on her hip, yoga pants clinging to her and speaking in a precocious tone that dominates any conversation.
As the play goes on, James – played in such a dauntingly debonair way by Michael Gould – recants his stories about family, makes excuses for a missing wife and guesses facts about Clair and her life. Facts that are scarily close to home.
The case of Suzy Lamplugh is currently in the news again, opening back up on the night of Press at the Orange Tree Theatre, which brings another chilling layer to the play and the topics raised by it. Perhaps the most chilling part is that none of the characters presented are unfamiliar to us.
With standout performances from all the cast, this play will have you hooked from the very beginning. It brings you away from your everyday and gives you an unsettling slice of life feel.
I highly recommend seeing it before the run is through.
For more information and to book tickets, visit the Orange Tree Theatre’s website.
Theatre for Twenty Quid (and less) 