Red Speedo

Orange Tree Theatre, 02/08/24

Credit: Johan Persson

Final rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Let’s dive right into this review shall we… and my first time at the Orange Tree in Richmond certainly made a splash. I’ve been wanting to see a Lucas Hnath play for some time and I wasn’t disappointed. In his signature writing style, the dialogue runs off into strands of thoughts – and Ciarán Owens as Peter captured this well. His aggressive, entitled persona as the brother of Ray really led you to hate the character, and it was obvious he would stop at nothing to protect his own interests. It sets up the tragedy for Ray (Finn Cole) – who becomes the victim of his own success. Finn Cole’s performance was flawless. Not only is he on stage for almost the entire performance wearing nothing but – you guessed it – a pair of red speedos, he dazzles with his convincing American accent making us feel for his desperate situation.

The set design was terrific. The interwoven shades of blue capturing the essence of a swimming centre – and then an actual pool with water on the stage itself (with those of us in the front row being warned we are in the splash zone!). It was truly unique and something that gave the production a real edge. Each scene was punctuated by a race-starting siren, blazed at such a loud volume it acted as a sort of jump scare but helped to break up the action and signpost to the audience when there was a change. It was used quite often – especially in between shorter scenes – but for me it didn’t grate. For others, I think it probably could.

The story is just fantastic. A talented swimmer hoping to make the US Olympic team is plagued by his own involvement in performance enhancing drugs. We watch his career unwravel almost before it has even begun, as his self-belief depends solely on having access to the illegal substances. That – however – is only revealed later, as the action begins with Coach (Fraser James) discovering the drugs in his fridge, with Ray and Peter denying that they could ever have any involvement.

With a fantastic mix of drama and comedy – such as the moment it is later discovered that Ray has unknowingly taken cat medicine rather than his performance-enhancing drugs – the script drives through the action at a great pace.

I did feel that the character of Lydia (Parker Lapaine) was a bit underwritten – though Lapaine did her best to portray the despairing ex-girlfriend wronged by Ray’s brother. But her function was to provide context to the plot and in that sense she succeeded.

The end featured an absolutely terrific fight scene, complete with blood bags and a couple of stage knaps that looked entirely convincing. As Ray lay in a pool of his own blood by the conclusion, deflated, the tragedy and desperation of his situation really sets in. And in addition, the timing of the production was perfect – as the real Olympics (Paris 2024) was actually happening at the time.

There wasn’t a huge philosophical message to walk out of the theatre with, other than some light commentary on the pressure facing athletes in competitive sport, but it was an absolutely electric 90-ish minutes of drama that made for a delightful evening viewing.