Dealing With Clair review – Martin Crimp's fierce swipe at pious yuppies

Orange Tree theatre, Richmond
This revival gains an eerie topicality, yet its ingenious study of moneyed hypocrisy makes it truly timeless

By an extraordinary quirk of fate, Martin Crimp’s 1988 play is being revived at the very moment the unsolved murder of Suzy Lamplugh is once again headline news. While Crimp’s play touches on the theme of an estate agent who mysteriously disappears, its topicality shines through in countless other ways: it is, ultimately, about the moral equivocation of the middle classes, and men’s abuse and belittlement of women.

Property lies at the heart of the artfully told story. Mike and Liz are a yuppie couple anxious to get the maximum price for their London house. So, although they have already accepted an offer, they are open to a higher cash bid from an enigmatic picture-dealer named James. Clair is the estate agent caught in the middle, who becomes the excuse for the couple’s double-dealing and an object of unhealthy curiosity on the part of the creepily intrusive James.

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from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2Q91IxO