Horse-Play review

Actor Ian Hallard turned his hand to writing only months before the pandemic closed all the theatres. His debut play Adventurous was performed as part of the Jermyn Street online season, and dealt with the perils of pursuing a romance during lockdown.

This new comedy Horse-Play, his first to receive a live production, looks at how a couple plan to maintain the spark in their relationship, albeit in very different circumstances. 

Tim and Tom have been together a while, so to spice things up they agree to invest in the services of a sex worker, Karl, who specialises in fetish. The scenario they have planned sees them dressed as superheroes Stallion and his faithful sidekick Butterfly, while Karl is the evil Villainor. With safe words in place and a well-equipped dungeon booked somewhere in the Thames Valley, it should be a night of fun. But Karl knocks himself unconscious, leaving Tim and Tom struggling to escape the scenario with as little embarrassment as possible.

Despite the subject matter, this is a gentle, rather old-fashioned comedy that stylistically sits somewhere between a Brian Rix farce and early Alan Ayckbourn. It’s not a particularly comfortable fit and, while Hallard constructs his laughs thoughtfully, the character development is paper-thin. The plot meanders through swathes of exposition before the curiously unsatisfying happy ending, and it’s vaguely ironic that a play featuring a character called Villainor has no real villain. As a result, this is a comedy without conflict, gently put to sleep by politeness.

Director Andrew Beckett – an old hand at delivering laughs thanks to years as associate and artistic director at Above the Stag – struggles to bring the piece together. There are some great gags and very silly physical business, which Beckett handles with aplomb, but these moments are stretched to breaking point over two acts. At least designer David Shields comes up trumps, with a sharply observed set and three lurid superhero costumes.

Enthusiastic performances help a great deal, and David Ames as Tim and Jake Maskall as Tom bicker with enough sincerity for us to invest in them as a couple. EastEnders alumnus Matt Lapinskas is good value as amnesiac sex worker Karl, proving disarmingly vulnerable once unmasked. Nick Sampson pops up in the final moments as a distracted landlord undertaking an inventory check – an underdeveloped character delivering an ineffectual punchline.

And Stephanie Siadatan, energetic as Karl’s business-minded girlfriend, unfortunately, arrives far too late to rescue a play that has, by that time, already run its course.