Review: Red Speedo at The Orange Tree

With the advent of the Paris Olympics at hand the Orange Tree’s accomplished staging (under Matthew Dunster) of Lucas Hnath’s 2016 play about doping within the world of high-performance swimming is certainly timely.

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OUR VERDICT

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Johan Persson

Anna Fleischle’s clever set is beautifully compact, echoing the blues of a pool with its mosaic tiles. It is complete with a red diving board bearing the play’s name, revealing a perfectly formed miniature pool as the play begins its first incisive lap.

The whole drama lasts only ninety minutes and is played at a resolutely brisk speed, each change of scene signalled by what resembles an extended starting buzzer. Holly Khan’s device adds crisp momentum to the unfolding drama.

Ray, an Olympic hopeful from an impoverished background, is on the cusp of a major sponsorship deal. His older brother Peter, a rather shady lawyer, can see the prospect of vast riches on the horizon and Ray’s Coach is determined to have his prodigy fulfil his obligations whilst his ex-girlfriend is embroiled in her own drama, all scheming in different ways, some openly, others with more subterfuge. 

When performance-enhancing drugs are found in a communal athlete’s kitchen, everything changes, and the stage is set for a drama ostensibly about PEDs but really investigating the nature of fairness in a world innately skewered by social inequality.

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Johan Persson

American playwright Hnath says of the drama’s origins, “ I wondered about fairness and how we decide where to draw the line between what is and isn’t fair. And I thought about the compulsion to keep score and stay on top of an unending cycle.”

Making his stage debut in red swimming trunks and with a large sea serpent adorning his frame  (a clear metaphor for slippery morality,) Finn Cole, making his stage debut as Ray, first glimpsed munching a bag of baby carrots, is terrific, easily conjuring a passive character, rather hollow inside and fundamentally disenchanted, desperate for one last stab at a better life.

Ciaran Owens's somewhat hackneyed role as the archetypal shifty, morally compromised lawyer is credible, as are all four cast members. 

Roy Orbison’s classic song, You Got It, ironically frames the action and emphasises the central message. It’s an exciting, visceral play that continues the Orange Tree’s stimulating run over recent years. 

The only caveat? It’s one of those few dramas that perhaps begs for more development and feels a little too hurried. However, apart from this, it offers invigorating and thought-provoking entertainment.