THEATRE: DEALING WITH CLAIR

Trading as it does in empty symbols – a ‘value-adding’ vine, even though no one goes in the garden, an ‘internally-lit’ bedroom (read, cupboard) – real estate is the perfect foundation from which to break down the pretence of, ‘acting honourably,’ with strangers, especially when greed and desire is thrown in the ring. Clair, a buyer and seller of expectations first, homes second, is assigned to a well-to-do couple and a mysterious last-minute buyer, who is offering cash and a little too much insight into Clair’s life. What is really for sale here? Honour quickly goes out the window (which, incidentally, has a rotten sill), as the prices – and aggressive behaviour – escalates. This is vintage Martin Crimp, written in the 80s and yet apparently well-suited to the contemporary mood. It’s certainly a clever, polished, well-played production. But just as we don’t believe the permafrost-locked couple’s blithe labelling of everyone else but themselves ‘cold’, so too are we unsure whether to buy the timeliness of such a grandiosely greedy premise. After all, aren’t we living in the all-too-real fall-out from its collapse?

Until Aug 15, SBW Stables Theatre, 10 Nimrod St, Kings Cross, $23-30, 8002 4772 or griffintheatre.com.au