The new comedy from American playwright Theresa Rebeck is calculatedly icky. In Mad House, an old man marinates in his own malevolence as his equally unpleasant adult children squabble over his money. It’s an entertaining but uninspired showcase for two megawatt US talents: Bill Pullman, who revels in the role of dying patriarch Daniel, and Stranger Things star David Harbour, who plays his put-upon son Michael with the vigour of a wounded bear.
They’re tremendous fun to watch. Pullman grumbles, lashes out, and knocks over his bowl of freshly cooked soup with the gleeful ingratitude of a toddler. And Harbour reverts to infancy too, torn between parenting his aged dad and sinking into childish frustration when his efforts fail. The arrival of capable nurse Lillian (Akiya Henry) briefly shakes some sense into both of them. But then Michael’s money-grubbing sister Pam (Sinead Matthews) and spineless brother Nedward (Stephen Wight) show up with a plan to get their mitts on the family home and disinherit their sibling.
