Seduced review, White Bear Theatre

"Professional Islington based couple seek young couple for shared pleasures. He 46. She 45. Can accommodate." So begins Seduced - a story of swinging psychiatrists in the Labour heartlands. The twist in this particular copulation caper is that the earthy young couple who take up the offer, have read it literally...

Oldest swingers in town

The play's writer, Michael Kingsbury, also directs this lively production in a lovely little theatre tucked at the back of a hostelry full of working men silently watching football on screens above the bar. They represent the South London heartlands from which the young swingers, Ryan and Kelly, hail. Around the edges of the pub are the theatre's polite punters, representing the cultural interests of Islington folk. Are they likely to swing? Watching the workings of highbrow Matthew and his prissy wife, Naomi, it feels utterly possible.

In a world where porn is instantly accessible, where soap stars have internet sex with strange women, and footballers are caught at dogging sites on motorways, anything goes. Jennie Gruner shimmers as Kelly and Jonathan Rigby is a solid Matthew, but one wonders how the play might look with some careful reworking and a starrier cast. It's easy to imagine Samatha Bond or Kristen Scott Thomas as Naomi, with Ralph Fiennes as Matthew and Leah Brotherhood as Kelly.

In conclusion: A sexy and amusing piece that is funny and provocative. One wished the story was stronger and tighter, the cast more realistically attired, and the running time twenty minutes shorter, but these are small gripes.

References
The White Bear, tickets