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Men’s Business
Finborough Theatre, London
IN 2016, acclaimed playwright Simon Stephens asserted that “Franz Xaver Kroetz’s plays are as resonant now as they’ve ever been.” His new translation of 1972’s Mannersache does much to back up that claim while also underlining why they may never have been that widely performed in the first place.
Transferring from Dublin’s Glass Mask Theatre, we are introduced into the caliginous, confined butcher’s shop of hopeless romantic Charlie (Lauren Farrell). Providing the harsh counterweight to her delusions is Victor (Rex Ryan), an emotionally unreachable steelworker who refuses to go into a woman’s flat in case “they get ideas.” It is a quizzical mismatch in which the prospect of violence looms large from the outset.
Their detached, silence-laden discussions are consistently punctured by Victor’s shaming putdowns of the seemingly reticent butcher. Soon enough they are consummating their awkward dalliance with equally uncomfortable intercourse while Victor explains his paranoia over her relationship with her dog. And so, the play follows this disconcerting yet strangely alluring pattern until it reaches its gory, absurdist apex.
Three aspects of the production keep the audience drifting into perplexed disillusion. One is Andrew Clancy’s clinical, shadowy green-tiled set complete with cleavers and hanging meat joints. The second is Ross Gaynor’s direction which wisely resists any temptation to play for laughs, allowing the intensity to slowly take hold. Lastly, both Farrell and Ryan deliver meticulous performances which capture the essence of these two lost, isolated souls.
It is isolation that emerges as the central theme and that is why Men’s Business does indeed resonate with the times. Human beings, when atomised and adrift, can end up doing awful things and as the intensity cranks up in the final scenes you’ll see just how far they can go.
It seems theatrical violence still has the ability to shock, but perhaps some trigger warnings on entering the theatre may have been a good idea.
Runs until April 12. Box office: (020) 7244-7439, finboroughtheatre.co.uk.
