Chimps

Synopsis

A black comedy about a young couple who have just bought their first home. Stevie, the breadwinner, is pregnant. Mark, star of their art school, dreams of the fame and fortune that will be his when his calling card, a meticulously worked alphabet book, is finished. One Saturday afternoon their emotional and financial world is turned upside down by the arrival of a pair of persistent salesmen.

Our Review:

6 June 2005

Love is blind. It has to be. Hence the common phenomena of odd couples in which smart, ambitious and (in this case, thank goodness) feisty young women find themselves with self-obsessed, albeit talented, whinging wimps. A biased view? Maybe. But, judging by the reactions of the audience at Chimps on the night I attended – gasping at key points, bursting into cheers at the stunningly swift twist of a classic denouement – I am not alone.

The piece is set in the shambolic new home of Markie (Domnhall Gleeson) and newly pregnant Stevie (Claire Lams), where Dick Bird’s set has the usual Playhouse attention to detail - despite the distracting night-time outdoors teamed with an afternoon interior.

When salesmen come knocking at the young couple’s door, both sides end up playing good cop, bad cop. Even if I overheard whispered references to Pinter (as well there might be - these two salesmen, Lawrence and Gabriel whiff of The Birthday Party’s Gol...

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Latest User Review

86.132.213.85) - 13 June 2005:

A challenging and uncomfortble evening at the Playhouse as two salesmaen insinuate thir way into a young couple's home and life. Well cast, good direction and acting but the evning is rather too long and some judicious cuts would have helped. A tension filled evening which deserved a larger audience....

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