So Close To Home, No 10 Circus Parade, Brighton, until May 25

2:28pm Wednesday 14th May 2008

Down a shadowy alleyway, past graffiti-covered walls, we are led through a back door into the grim and claustrophobic kitchen of a derelict restaurant.

It's not a nice room. It's the sort of place you'd expect to find the carcasses of dead animals hanging on bloody butchers' hooks.

It smells odd, strip lighting glares and the tiled walls and floor impose a sterile atmosphere.

In London, So Close To Home was performed at The Arcolo Theatre but for it's Brighton run, this disused pizza restaurant was chosen.

Bearing little resemblance to either a restaurant or a kitchen, the choice of venue feels more like a gimmick than a creative staging decision and adds little to the production.

The play itself examines the relationships between three generations of men who find themselves with the daunting task of opening a restaurant.

Robert is a gritty, down-to-earth chef who has spent a lifetime grafting in other people's kitchens, and has finally bought his own.

But his son Sean has ambitions and doesn't want to end up washing plates like a "dish pig".

Forgetting family loyalty, he goes to work for his father's dodgy business rival, organising illegal immigrants as cheap kitchen labour.

When Robert's long lost father Martin turns up, popping mystery tablets and trying to play happy families, it's not only the deep fat fryer which starts spitting fire.

Robert is a complex character played by Garry Cooper, with a natural intuitiveness which is compelling to watch. Likewise, Joe Jacobs plays Sean with confident ease, even when exposing the more vulnerable side of the cocky youth.

Strangely, Sam Cox plays Martin with an exaggerated style which is overly theatrical in comparison.

His stilted delivery and intense facial expressions are quite perplexing, as are the builders who wander on stage between scenes to stare at us menacingly while reading a Polish newspaper.

The script was tight, the sentiments powerful and the comedy sharp, but a sub-plot involving Sean's involvement with immigrant workers was overworked and made the play too long.

Sadly, too many oddities make this play an unusual experience rather than an enjoyable one.

Editor's Choice