Five men gather every week, after the restaurant in which they work closes for the night, to play poker. They battle with cards and with egos to see who’s going to go home with the pot at the end of the game. And when a stranger enters one night the stakes become even higher.
Patrick Marber’s play Dealer’s Choice is considered something of a modern classic. It opened to rave reviews back in 1995, and seeing its revival at the Oxford Playhouse it is not hard to see why. The plot rattles along, with neat staging tricks to keep you on your toes, and the dialogue is first-rate, its portrayal of the banter that goes on amongst a group of guys being utterly convincing. But what really makes the play is its characters. None is particularly likeable, and all are extremely flawed as fathers, sons, friends, but the strength of the writing and the acting makes them incredibly sympathetic. The sense of dread throughout the first act for what could be lost during the forthcoming game is very powerful, as despite yourself you come to feel deeply for the characters, and really don’t want anything bad to happen to any of them.
Money is, of course, the main thing at stake, but it goes deeper than that too. Sweeney (Carl Prekopp) is seeing his little girl in the morning for the first time in months and knows he should go home before the game starts, but despite his best intentions, and the desperate will of the audience, he gives in to the goading and wheedling of eternal optimist Mugsy (Gary Crankson) and wannabe professional poker player Frank (Tom Canton). The other two regulars are restaurant owner Stephen (Richard Hawley) and his son Carl (Oliver Coopersmith), who he has rescued from many a gambling debt. Carl brings stranger Ash (Ian Burfield) along, and the game is on.
A play of male camaraderie and competitiveness, Dealer’s Choice is a great study of life. Some people keep their cards close to their chest, some risk everything on a near certain loss just so they can feel that they’re involved in the game, and all are constantly trying to second guess each other. Dealer’s Choice is a play that relies on its performances, and there are no wild cards in this pack. Which I think is a good thing. I’m a bit of a bluffer when it comes to poker lingo. ★★★★☆ Deborah Sims
