Four big stars and four very professional performances. Considering I was seeing this play at a similar time to last week’s Six Dances in Six Weeks, namely in its first week on stage, the four actors, Kristen Johnston, Michael McKean, Cillian Murphy, and Neve Campbell, were remarkable. Line delivery was spot on and each actor was extremely comfortable with their physical restraints on stage. I was very impressed with how each actor, except perhaps for Neve Campbell who I felt was the weakest of the four, actually became their characters.

The play tells the story of Beane (played by Cillian Murphy) who is somewhat touched – he lives a lonely life and his only possessions are a table, one chair, a couch, a lamp, a cup, a spoon, a toothbrush and some socks. His sister Joan (Kristen Johnston) and her husband Harry (Michael McKean) are around but too busy in their own lives to pay him too much attention. One night Beane’s apartment is robbed and suddenly Beane is a new man confident, happy with the world and seemingly in love with a girl called Molly (Neve Campbell.)

Billed as a romcom this play was extremely extremely funny. I was laughing throughout the whole play especially when Kristen Johnston was on stage. In a word Kristen Johnston was brilliant. The only weakness in the play was the interaction with Molly. Though the character was central to the play I felt that at times the words flowing between her and Beane were over-indulgent and spoken for the sake of speaking rather than adding meaning to the play. The play was also very moving and you couldn’t help but feel for Beane. I especially could sympathise with the fear of leaving his apartment to get out and see the real world so to see him overcome this in the end was

Without giving away too much about the play you can read as deep into the play as you want. On the surface its about love and the hope it inspires. At a deeper level you might see its about survival and whether love is something we’ve created to justify the mad feelings we sometimes experience. Either way it is a truly entertaining play and should be scene before it closes in March next year.