Review: RED SPEEDO, Orange Tree Theatre

With the Paris Olympics just about to begin, Lucas Hnath's Red Speedo makes a prescient revival at the Orange Tree. The world of professional swimming has been dogged by stories of doping and Hnath's play seeks to explore the ethical aspects of this issue and how far someone will go to be a winner. So far, so intriguing, but Red Speedo feels unfinished and Hnath fails to either dig deep enough or offer any interesting commentary about these themes.

Set in the world of competitive swimming, Ray is about to compete to qualify for the Olympic team. When performance-enhancing drugs are discovered at his club, his professional dreams are at risk. Aided by his amoral brother Peter, Ray must navigate moral and ethical issues as he tries to achieve his dreams.

Peaky Blinders’ Finn Cole makes a good stage debut as Ray, the rather dim swimmer who appears to have no issue with the dubious choices he makes in the effort to win. Ciarán Owens is brash and loud as lawyer brother Peter, showing how far someone might go to, not necessarily to win, but to achieve financial success. It is a thankless, one-dimentional character, but Owens has enough stage presence to carry it.

Fraser James is convincing as the unnamed Coach, focused and unflinching. There is a distinct lack of any coaching from him, acting more a moral guide who credits himself hugely with Ray's success.

Parker Lapaine, also making her stage debut, is excellent as Ray's ex-girlfriend Lydia. It is arguably an unnecessary role, but Lapaine is bolshy and spiky, showing glimpses of touching vulnerability behind her mask.

It is consistently impressive how the tiny space of the Orange Tree can adapt to the productions it hosts. Anna Fleischle’s immersive set is beautifully constructed, with the whole theatre painted with the limpid greens and blues of a swimming pool. A large bath-sized rectangular pool with steps acts as the focus of the production, with Ray consistently in and out of the water, complimented by Sally Ferguson's rippling lighting. It is a very convincing construction within a very small space, but as an ex-competitive swimmer myself, the absence of those ubiquitous blue overshoes poolside was notable.

Holly Khan gives a nicely echoing quality to the dialogues, but the repetition of Roy Orbison’s "You Got It" and a loud air horn to segue between scenes are both overused. 

Hnath seems to enjoy writing fiery arguments (also see his well-received A Doll’s House, Part 2 at the Donmar in 2022). Matthew Dunster's direction is pacy, using all sides of the Orange Tree to display the exchanges. Less successful is the execution of the large amount of fast-paced back-and-forth dialogue between the cast, which sometimes feels stilted and not sufficiently fluid to sound natural.

Despite some good performances and a wonderful set, the downfall of the production lays in the writing itself. Peter touches on his own ambitions, the economic disadvantages faced by his and Ray's parents and how he wants to safeguard his own daughter's future through money. Coach appears to hold a moral high ground until he suddenly doesn't. We find out Ray ran away to the desert to escape the pressure he felt, causing a catastrophic car accident and Lydia lost her job, seemingly to help get illegal medication for a stranger. Frustratingly, all these potentially interesting aspects of the play and its characters are left unexplored.

A missed opportunity.

Red Speedo is at the Orange Tree Theatre until 10 August

Photo Credits: Johan Persson

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