Faces in the Crowd

Synopsis

When Dave moved south to London he left behind his family, wife Joanne and mounting financial woes in favour of a playground of riches, sex and shopping. 10 years on and Joanne wants payback... with interest. Faces in the Crowd offers an insight into 21st century London and the debts we accrue in the wake of seeking out our ambitions.

Our Review:

22 October 2008

Not since E A Whitehead’s Alpha Beta over thirty years ago has the Royal Court made houseroom for such a bitter marital bare knuckle fight as this bruising encounter between Leo Butler’s estranged couple in Faces in the Crowd.

Dave (Con O'Neill) left Sheffield ten years ago and has lately moved into a studio flat in the regenerated part of the capital’s East End with a view of the gherkin, chorizo and bean salad in the fridge, an order for the Guardian and louvered cupboards in the bedroom. He’s obviously a class traitor as well as a capitalist lackey (he works for a recruitment agency) and is seeing a girl half his age, which is more than we do, alas.

Butler bangs him up solely with the visiting wife, Joanne (Amanda Drew), whose London mission is to bed Dave while she’s ovulating and win him back by getting herself pregnant. She’s thoughtfully packed some Viagra in her toilet bag, for Dave is wilting under pressure of the decadent life i...

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Latest User Review

Robert Smith - 20 November 2008:

I can only assume RDS saw a different play to the one I witnessed. To say that the acting in this remarkable production was unconvincing is ludicrous. Both Con O'Neill and Amanda Drew give superb performances, with O'Neill' once again, proving himself to be on the very top of his game. The script was tight and moving and the production brave and disturbing. I applaud the Royal Court for staging this fierce new play....

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