OFS Studio, Tue 29th January - Sat 2nd February 2008

An engaging production of Marber's second play, which follows the love and betrayals of four unlikeable characters in 90s London.

Harry Creelman steals the show as Anna, who was convincing in presenting the emotions she was faced with - guilt, denial and grief. Lindsay Dukes as Alice was also strong, evoking sympathy from the audience with her excellent portrayal of her character's childish behaviour.

In contrast, the men of this production lacked the conviction of the women. I forgot about Alex Bowles's Dan completely when he wasn't on stage, and Matt Malby's vulnreable portrayal was ineffective, particularly towards the conclusion of Act One.

Richard Hone 3 Feb 2008

Marber's play 'Closer' is a story of ordinary fallible people making choices that tear through each other’s lives in a brutal, blow-by-blow look at the flip side of love.

Brought vividly to life by the OUDS and staged using a minimal set design to draw the audience ever closer to the twisting dialogue, this performance had little to fault it, as can be said of the actors who rarely stumbled over the complex tongue twisting text, and whose characterisation showed them to be real talent of the next generation.

Of particular merit was Lindsay Dukes' performance as Alice, the fragile waif whose longing to be loved left her a pawn at the hands of a selfish Dan and a vengefully manipulative Larry. Right from the opening lines, Ms Dukes had this role nailed down tight and had won the audience over. A genuine emerging talent.

Of course, a strong supporting cast helped her case, with the wonderfully expressive Harry Creelman adding a depth to Anna that is rarely seen, and Alex Bowles' creation of a genuinely selfish, and dislikeable Dan. Possibly the weak member was Matt Mallby's Dr Larry, whose aggression seemed less believable, but whose charm and humour the audience warmed to. He also appeared to have a head cold on the night, which was no doubt hindering his performance.

Without a doubt, together on stage, they presented something far and above the word 'amateur'.

In all, a strong performance of this timeless play and if you are the sort of adult that enjoys edge-of-seat dialogue with convincing characterisation, and you don't believe the English Empire will collapse overnight from the mere uttering of the C word on stage, then this version of 'Closer' at the Old Fire Station, Oxford is something you should not miss.

Paul Ekert 2 Feb 2008

Patrick Marber’s play ‘Closer’ is an explicit and passionate foray in to the romantic lives of four people. Alice the stripper loves Dan the obituary writer, who becomes completely taken with Anna, the photographer. Anna and Larry the dermatologist fall in love. But it doesn’t end there – love, passion, lying, cheating and sex are woven together in this portrait of troubled relationships.

The performance contains what can politely be termed as ‘adult content’ – f*** is one of the most repeated words throughout, not to mention some very explicit descriptions of sexual acts. I suppose it’s what one would call ‘edgy’. However through all the filth, there are some very poignant observations on love.

Having seen the film several years ago, it was hard not to compare the performance with the film’s all star-cast, or the stark set with the depth of a film set. That said, I did eventually stop picturing Jude Law and got in to the play.

Initially, the cast struggled a bit with uneven and occasional stilted delivery of lines, but by the second half they seemed to relax a bit and were in fine form. Harry Creelman was particularly strong as Anna, brining a real depth of character to the stage. Though I thought Matt Malby was a bit young to be seriously considered as a doctor, he did have some excellent scenes. Dan and Alice (Alex Bowles and Lindsay Dukes respectively) were also good, particularly in the second half.

There were a few glitches, as one would expect on opening night…a phone that wouldn’t stop ringing, a couple of stuttered lines, but nothing too disastrous.

Overall, it’s great amateur drama, and a performance worth seeing if you’re not offended easily.

Kate Bottriell 30 Jan 2008

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