Dealer's Choice at Donmar Warehouse Review
Brendan Coyle in Dealer’s Choice. Photo by Helen Murray
Written by Cathie for Theatre & Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review
Some things in life are timeless, and believing that your entire world can change with the flip of a coin affects everyone from three to eighty-three. The thought that tonight just might be your night, that the perfect card is only one draw away, and that you’re one bluff away from winning that mega jackpot is a crippling compulsion is explored in Dealer’s Choice. This 30th Anniversary revival of Patrick Marber’s play highlights just how much gambling addictions can impact on one’s self, one’s family, and wreak an incredibly destructive fall out on anyone around you.
In this all-male play, we see a reminder of how macho and emotionally guarded everyone, especially men, were expected to be in their daily lives. On a slow Sunday night, we meet the motley group of characters. First, we met Chef Sweeney (Theo Barklem-Biggs), a tough poker addict, who is ridiculed and hounded by the other characters for not wanting to join the poker night because he wants to take his estranged six-year-old daughter to the zoo. His roommate is Frankie (Alfie Allen), a smooth-talking womaniser who dreams of making it big in Vegas and enjoys winding up his boss and the other staff every chance he gets. Next, we meet Mugsy (Hammed Animashaun), whose lovable and relentless optimism forms the heart of the play, and his performance shines like a royal flush.
In contrast to these waiters, we meet Restaurateur Stephen (Daniel Lapaine), who is compulsive and incredibly controlling in his life and in poker. In contrast, we meet his gambling addict son Carl (Kasper Hilton-Hille), who’s spiralling into constant lies and debts due to his lack of control over his gambling addiction. However, Stephen is so desperate for any form of connection that he continually bails his son out and forces him to play a weekly poker night with him and his waiters. Finally, we see Ash (Brendan Coyle), Carl’s surrogate gambling father and is a professional poker player to whom Carl owes £4000. The cast are brilliant in seamlessly showcasing the deep unhappiness and frustrated dreams all of the characters feel.
The set (Moi Tran) features a working stove top and blood red walls to represent the restaurant. The actual reveal of the basement in act 2 was impressive in its literal unfurling of the dingy basement and a simple revolving poker table, so we can see each actor and their expressions throughout the game. It was a spectacular set and really adds much of the gravitas and nuance to the scenes. The use of 90s phones and classic ringtones was also a subtle touch in grounding the production into 1995.
At a running time of 2 hours and 5 minutes, including the interval, it seemed far more gravitas was placed in the first act and the build up to the actual poker games than the actual games themselves in the shorter second act. This encapsulates the siren lure of poker well in that it’s the anticipation as opposed to the actual game that many people become addicted to as well as the game itself. Play the man, not the cards is the advice each of the characters constantly gives each other, and the groundwork laid by the first half comes to powerful fruition in the games. Director Matthew Dunster has used the sharp dialogue to powerful effect and we see modern nuances of their crumbling characters in a sharp 21st-century lens whilst still remaining faithful to the 90s brutal truth.We see all different styles of poker performed, with some rounds being entertaining and some less invigorating. Although the climax of the play is predictable, Lapaine’s dedicated conviction is brilliant at holding the audience spellbound. His use of subtle nuances and demonstration of well well-meaning heart hidden under tough bluster elevate the tension and make the danger both father and son face far more believable.
As much as this show is about revealing the slow erosion of the soul self-inflicted by gambling, this play is also about broken father son dynamics. Stephen is conflicted in the management employee dynamic he has with Mugsy, which transforms into reluctant respect, and a surrogate father son relationship begins forming in front of our eyes. In contrast, his relationship with Carl is a broken bitter thing. The only bond that the father and son truly seem to share is that of the poker table and are unable to see or reach each other on literally any other point.
It is an interesting revival full of nuance and subtlety in exposing the male mind and its inner workings. The cast are stellar, and it’s worth going purely to see Animashaun and Lapaine’s poignant dynamics in person. If you enjoy poker, understanding what makes others tick and exploring how familial wounds shape dynamics and addictions, then this is the show for you.
At Donmar Warehouse until 7 June 2025
★★★★
