Review: The battlefield of domestic life laid bare in first-class show in Leamington

Life X 3 rips away the veneer of civilised behaviour, exposing the violence and the vulnerability beneath. It is the sort of small ensemble play that The Loft does exceptionally well.

Two professional couples get together for a meal, but the guests have arrived a day early. It’s a scenario that would challenge many a household’s establishment. The hosts, Henri (Dave Crossfield) and Sonia (Elizabeth Morris), have a six-year-old child whose voice, demanding, plaintive, is heard intermittently offstage, raising the tension. The action is over power: who in this bourgeois domestic environment is dominant, and on what terms? It’s rather like watching an arm-wrestling match – the intensity and concentration are ferocious, drawing the viewer in.

Hubert (Paul Curran) is Henri’s boss. He is a world-renowned astronomical physicist, very much the dominant man in the room. Henri has just completed a paper on some obscure but, in their world, important subject. But Hubert brings news that someone else has just published on the subject. This is disastrous for Henri. Hubert, apparently sympathetic, obviously enjoys the spectacle of his colleague’s unease. So much so that he makes a clumsy pass at Sonia, all the while mercilessly bullying his wife Ines (Cheryl Laverick), who happens to catch him at it. The wives, independent women in their own right, nevertheless both defend and repel their men. It’s a battlefield. “A career is a plan of strategy”, as Hubert reminds Henri who, wounded, lies bleeding on the ground. Yet, beneath it all, is the desire for acceptance.

The action is played out through three scenarios, each covering roughly the same time and taking a slightly different angle. Every nuance of the event is explored. It is fascinating to watch. The performances, direction by Sue Moore and casting are all first class, and the dialogue and the playing are so quick, so sharp, and often so funny, that the hour and a half passes in a moment.

Until January 27. Call 01926 830680 or visit lofttheatrecompany.com/performance/life-x-3 to book.