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Pullman and Harbour pack a punch in toxic family drama

Farah Najib

Mad House The Ambassadors Theatre, WC2 ★★★★★

FLORAL, yellowing wallpaper; mismatched, rickety chairs; an array of antiquated knick-knacks; a grimy fridge offering beers aplenty but little by way of nourishment.

This Pennsylvania home is in decay, and so is its patriarch. Theatre veteran Bill Pullman takes to the stage as cantankerous, emphysema-riddled Daniel, who is well on his way to death but not going down without a fight. David Harbour (well-loved for his portrayal of Hopper in Stranger Things) is his mentally ill son Michael, returned home to — begrudgingly — take care of his ailing father, who showers his child with vitriol as thanks.

Help comes when they’re sent patient but fierce hospice nurse Lillian (Akiya Henry), who finds herself involuntarily entangled in their web of family toxicity. Siblings Ned (Stephen Wight) and Pam (Sinéad Matthews) arrive soon after, motivated less by familial love and more by a thirst to uncover how much might be coming their way after Dad croaks.

Both stars are brilliant. Pullman as Daniel is a vision of bodily rot: sallow and sunken, frequently wiping gunk from his mouth, every word an effort. Don’t be fooled by this weakness though — there’s brute force behind his verbal abuse. With his body mostly confined to a chair or bed, so much is communicated through his eyes, which dart mischievously as he spews insults.

Harbour’s performance as the long-suffering family pariah Michael, who openly wishes for his father to die sooner rather than later, packs a massive emotional punch.

Both stars have exquisite timing, carefully nurtured by director Moritz Von Stuelpnagel to illuminate the deliciously dark comedy in Theresa Rebeck’s script.

Wight is suitably slimy as the banker-w ***** , loafers-and-no-socks-wearing Ned, and Matthews great — but awful — as the callous, Karen-esque Pam who viciously weaponises Michael’s mental health against him, repeatedly mocking his stint in “the loony bin”. Henry is exceptional as Lillian, depicting a wealth of pain held just below the surface with gorgeous nuance and wit.

Rebeck’s play boldly cracks open the suffocating messiness of death, family, and mental health. When an audible gasp ripples across the audience at the mere snap of a pencil, it’s clear that Stuelpnagel’s production has us right in the palm of its hand.

Until September 4; 0333 009 6690; madhousetheplay.co.uk

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2022-06-27T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-06-27T07:00:00.0000000Z

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