Dealer’s Choice is the Patrick Marber play from 1995 about six restaurant workers who gather for their usual Sunday-night poker game only for things to seriously unravel, in what is a study of machismo, compulsion and breakdowns. With masculinity back in the news after Adolescence, it is a fine time for this anniversary revival, and a welcome chance to look at how traditional behavioural traps can drag men down. And the production has struck gold with its cast, which includes Alfie Allen, Brendan Coyle, Hammed Animashaun and Theo Barklem-Biggs as the chef Sweeney.
Barklem-Biggs is particularly well-placed to put across the play’s themes, given his previous form playing Reg in SAS Rogue Heroes. The hit BBC show is big and loud and action-packed but underrated as an exploration of male rage and self-destruction.
