Moses Raine’s 50-minute first play is almost indecently bursting with talent. An adolescent boy, Henry (Tom Payne), is seeing a therapist, who hypnotises him. What follows is a series of flashbacks to the family life that sent him there: a wealthy ex-army father, coarse and obsessively macho (Sam Cox); an elder brother (Oliver Coleman) who is trying hard to be the same; and a genteel, fretful mother (Imogen Stubbs), who tries to be sensible and maternal. Or, on the other hand, all this could be what goes through Henry’s hypnotised mind. It’s not that Raine doesn’t make things clear: his play is a series of internal images, dreams within dreams. He and Henry are both looking for reasons, solutions — or an escape. At one point, they are all on the family yacht, with dad laying down the law on everything from success and cricket to masturbation, when the radio comes to life: a Mayday call from another boat. Only Henry takes any notice. There is a life elsewhere, Raine suggests, but only if help comes in time. The actors, and Maria Aberg’s direction, are tough and flawless. Three stars
The Sunday Times - John Peter
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