The Same Deep Water As Me ***

Donmar Warehouse

EXCERPT: “The piece is greatly enjoyable and well executed, but at the end of both first and second halves, there is a lingering feeling that we aren’t quite sure where this play can go.”

Nick Payne’s new play The Same Deep Water As Me inevitably prompts comparisons to his previous play Constellations. Constellations (very unusually for a 2-hander that originally premiered at the Royal Court’s tiny upstairs theatre) transferred to the West End last year, picking up all sorts of Olivier nominations along the way.  Although the subject matter and style are wholly different, The Same Deep Water As Me suffers by comparison: it is unable to achieve the depth, complexity and poignancy that Constellations did so effortlessly. It loses its grip over us towards its end precisely as it is trying too hard to achieve this potency. It is exposed as a play that entertains, with great characters and witty one-liners, but fails to go deeper than that.

About the no win no fee culture that leads to manufactured accidents and large insurance claims, the recently introduced harsher legislation makes The Same Deep Water As Me topical and relevant to all (our insurance costs are made considerably higher by these felons’ claims). However, the issue hasn’t quite caught public imagination enough for the play to work solely on that basis, and Payne’s script isn’t though provoking enough to have the high impact that the play’s dribbling conclusion clearly craves.

In terms of the actual production, director John Crowley has done well – it is the faulty script that is fundamentally the show’s nemesis. Almost all the cast are exceptional. It would be all-too easy to overplay the script’s comic potential. This mistake is embodied by Isabella Laughland’s fleeting performance – the word caricature doesn’t even begin to cover it – but all the others conveys real character depth and let the wit of the dialogue shine through. Daniel Mays as the jocular sub-standard lawyer Andrew Eagleman who lets his morals slip is wholly believable, and his relationships with ex-girlfriend Jen (Niky Wardley) is touching. As Judge Jessup, Peter Forbes has great presence, and executes his part with finesse, creating the sense of a trustworthily objective judge presiding in full majesty over his courtroom. The brief moment when he loses his rag because Kevin Needleman (played with chirpy immorality by Marc Wootton) is on his mobile phone is done perfectly, all credit to him. But it is Monica Dolan who really hits the comic nail on the head. As the posh and immensely successful prosecuting lawyer, she is the only person to really add a great deal to the character that Payne has written. With exquisite precision, her tonal variation is hysterical, without allowing it to define or reduce her character. Her performance is no small part of the reason that the courtroom of the second half brings such a lot of dynamism to the production.

The piece is greatly enjoyable and well executed, but at the end of both first and second halves, there is a lingering feeling that we aren’t quite sure where this play can go.