The Thing About Psychopaths

Synopsis

Britain. 2013. Times are hard, but the money's still out there if you know where to look and are prepared to gamble. Noel's from a decent background, not rich, but not poor either. He's grown up comfortably, but he's ambitious and he's always wanted more. When Ray, a senior trader at the financial institution they both work for, persuades him that he could have more, he decides that the chance is his for the taking. But when their activity is exposed, Ray denies all knowledge and Noel ends up facing his worst nightmare: prison. He's been set up and he's the one who takes the fall. Noel has to quickly learn how to cope in a truly brutal environment. Can Noel manage to stand his ground this time? And what is he going to have to do to make sure that that happens?

Our Review:

19 April 2013

Psychopaths lack the ability to sympathise with other people. As a result they are manipulative and able to perform atrocities without remorse. Ben Tagoe’s new play examines the suggestion that, in order to thrive in the modern world, we have to suppress empathy and behave like psychopaths.
 
Computer literate but naïve Noel (Shaun Cowlishaw) is talked into committing fraud and ends up in gaol where he is subject to further manipulation by the inmates. The brevity of the play limits the ability of Tagoe to both explore the themes and develop a satisfactory narrative. One might accept that the audience has to apply imagination to fill in the gaps in the details of white-collar crime and jailhouse rituals. But Tagoe concentrates on his theme at the expense of the storytelling. There is a sense that once the writer decided on the direction of his play he simply proceeded towards the conclusion generating few surprises.
 
The style of the play is im...

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