DEALING WITH CLAIR
DEALING WITH CLAIR, presented by Irregular Programming at the Old Fitz, 12-25 July 2026. Photography by Robert Miniter: Talia Benatar, Arkia Ashraf, Daniel Fletcher (above), below: Daniel Fletcher; below again: Olivia Hall-Smith
Martin Crimp’s play Dealing With Clair is an immorality play whose central couple, Mike (Arkia Ashraf) and Liz (Talia Benatar), wouldn’t know the meaning of the word if it bit them. Sadly, it’s not surprising that their world is as familiar today as it was in 1988 when it was first revealed at the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond, Surrey.
Not that the types inhabiting that part of London would have felt connected with the immoral aspects. Rather, they would have chuckled derisively at the upwardly mobile pair (Yuppies in the old parlance), and unconsciously sneered at real estate agent, Clair (Olivia Hall-Smith), whose short skirts and shoebox “investment property,” overlooked by a busy railway line, signals that she’s literally not in their class.
The thing is, Mike and Liz have scruples. They tell Clair they want to fix a price and stick to it, and first-come-first-served with a buyer, no gazumping. Not that the awful word is uttered. Nevertheless, it takes but a moment to discard scruples. The fourth bedroom has no window? “Not a window as such,” they reassure, "it’s internally lit.” And it has “plenty of air…air is not a problem.”
Dealing With Clair is horribly, quietly, funny until it isn’t. Mike and Liz had no problem when the house next door was tenanted, but they’re relieved that it’s now owner-occupied. They are ghastly and all too plausible. They have a baby and a nanny – Anna (Jade Fuda). She’s put upon, ill-used, and understandably sulky. And it doesn’t help that her boyfriend, Vittorio, Ashley the handyman, and Clair’s offsider at the agency, Toby (Bayley Prendergast) are lecherous in the way of men who think they’re nice.
Nevertheless, the play is by Martin Crimp, and it means that sly humour and satire are there to trap the unwary and disguise a growing sense of unease. By the time the tightening in the tummy and shallow, almost panicky breathing are identified, it’s too late. The dark heart of the work has arrived out of nowhere to make you jump out of your skin. Almost literally, heh heh.
Crimp is a fiendish bastard when it comes to manipulating his audience, and in choosing this play, director Harry Reid demonstrates a similar intent and the talent to carry it off. Crimp isn’t easy, and this is an ambitious production that, in Reid’s hands, doesn’t falter for a minute.
Key to a vital change of tone and emotional intensity is Daniel Fletcher as James, a potential buyer who ups the ante in more ways than one. He has cash and offers more than the couple from Shropshire whose rural home is too much for the wife with a crumbly spine.
James is a charming, urbane chap whose theme tune could be Sade’s Smooth Operator. Except he is also unnerving and treats polite Clair like a cat with a mouse – a paw pat to make it run, then a swipe to trap it. All verbal, of course, no violence. Few women in an audience would be unfamiliar with his type, whether at work or in private life, and the alarm bells, although silent, are deafening.
On top of that, buying and selling, and moving house, are close to the top of the list of stressful things to do with yourself, so one way or another, Dealing With Clair turns into a weirdly fascinating, funny frightmare of about 100 minutes. The company of six is exceptional with Fletcher and Hall-Smith particularly memorable in a heady clash of pleasant, prolix menace versus agonisingly foolish confidence. While Ashraf and Benatar are downright odious and instantly recognisable.
The versatile setting conveys both elements of the housing and class dilemma: design by Soham Apte, and Larisha Dowson-Taylor does the same with costumes. Izzy Morrissey pulls off some brilliant lighting ideas, while dialect coach Linda Nicholls-Gidley has guided each cast member to a sustained and different English accent, including James, whose overly-perfect enunciation should warn that he’s not what he appears to be.
So clever, so Crimp, so creepy. I loved it!
