Gentleman or not, I recommend this show if you fancy being made to question your own ethics while watching a brilliant script be brilliantly performed.
Gentlemen is a new play written by Matt Parvin and directed by Richard Speir. The show was originally intended to premiere in 2020, but with the world falling apart that obviously could not happen. The show finally made its long-awaited debut at the Arcola Theatre this October, and I am very glad that it got a chance to be seen, even if it is 3 years later than intended.
All 3 actors in this play gave very strong performances. Each role is given a lot to work within the script and allows the actors to show their range, and they all have great range. Charlie Beck in particular gives an electric performance as Greg and brought excellent energy and personality to the script. All of the characters have brilliant depth to them and start to reveal new layers to themselves as the play goes on, and these changing characters are performed expertly and it kept me engaged throughout.
This script is smart. Really smart. Especially in the first act there are lots of small wordplay moments that you might miss if you are not paying attention, and the dialogue between the characters straddles the line between heightened realism and true to life ways of speaking in an exciting and inviting way. The script also poses moral dilemmas that are genuine dilemmas rather than obvious ways of making a statement. I did worry that the play was going to end without a decision being made regarding the primary conflict, but thankfully this is not the case. The conflict is resolved and it is up to the audience to decide whether this was right or wrong. As I was leaving, I heard other audience members advocating for different sides of the argument and defending different characters. It is impressive to me that the play was able to leave so much moral ambiguity while still providing a satisfying conclusion. Whether it is the correct conclusion is for the audience to decide. I still have not made my mind up as to who I think was in the right.
As Act 1 finished I was convinced this was going to be a 5-star show. Unfortunately, I do not think the second act is as strong. The second act opens with a scene which I will admit I simply did not get. It references something mentioned in the first act, but other than that I did not really see how it added much to the play. There is a genuinely surprising reveal in this scene that worked well, but I still was left longing to return to where we were before in Act 1. The rest of Act 2 also does not live up to the heights and energy of Act 1. This is potentially because the tone is darker throughout the later act, but I found myself less entranced than I was at the beginning of the show.
Regardless of my dampened enthusiasm for Act 2, this play is still brilliant. The script and performances were excellent in making you feel sympathetic towards a character one moment, and then hate them the next. All of the characters are morally grey and the different privileges and agendas battling against each other was a fascinating watch.
Gentlemen is playing at the Arcola Theatre until the 28th October.