KISS ME: ★★★★ FROM TIME OUT

'Richard Bean – he of One Man, Two Guvnors and Great Britain fame – returns to more intimate fare with this short two-hander that started life at Hampstead’s Downstairs studio theatre last year.'

'It’s intimate in every sense; the action takes place entirely on and around a bed belonging to ‘Stephanie’.'

'Ben Lloyd-Hughes effectively captures the inner conflict of this buttoned-up man for whom undoing them has become a personal crusade.'

'Opposite him Claire Lams gives a compelling portrayal of the funny and forthright Stephanie. She’s a woman out of time; a free-spirited, potty-mouthed lorry driver. It’s easy to see the attraction for Dennis - she says the unsayable and delights in teasing him. 'Where’s the strangest place you’ve ever had sex?', she asks. 'Stoke Newington', he replies.'

'But underpinning their flirtatious banter is the brutality of conflict, and Bean has found a novel way to evoke the scale of the horrors. Dennis speaks of the injured husbands who often insist on meeting him before ‘the act’. Some are shell-shocked, others wounded in unthinkable ways. The premise, which at first seems absurd, grows all-too believable as things progress.'

'As a study of human fragility it’s quietly heartbreaking.'

To read the full review click here to visit Time Out online.

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