Men’s Business ★★ Finborough Theatre | Mar 18 - Apr 12, 2025


The philosopher, Thomas Hobbes, once said that without government, life would be “nasty, brutish, and short.” The same might be said of this play, and the way the lives of its characters are presented. Charlie is a butcher who has "an affair" with Victor, a steel worker. Their abusive, sadomasochistic carry-on is no doubt symbolic (probably of the human condition) but in the end, it just becomes tedious. Neither of the characters develop, and their mean-spirited and violent interchanges are numbingly repetitive. Endless abuse and relentless couplings doesn't make for very interesting theatre, and this pair become almost cruel parodies of working class people. In fact, there is a point where one has the uncomfortable feeling that the playwrights are actually being quite condescending to these two pathetic individuals and their pathology, while the audience is being invited to become uncomfortable voyeurs at a very sad display of human dysfunction. Although a lot of time is taken up by actors, Rex Ryan and Lauren Farrell, regularly taking off and putting on their clothes, both do a fine job of playing these one-dimensional personages. Their characterisations are nicely built through various small gestures and glances as well as through the constant shouting and withering mutual humiliation. In the final analysis, it seems a shame that Ryan and Farrell's talents are not being displayed in a more interesting vehicle. Ultimately, it becomes difficult to determine what the point of this whole exercise is, but one take-away would certainly seem to be that seriously dysfunctional people should not own pets.

Rated: ★★

Reviewed by J.C.
Photo by Rio Redwood-Sawyerr

When, Where, Getting there:
Map & Location: 118 Finborough Rd, London SW10 9ED, UK

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