A thoroughly enjoyable read of what should turn out to be a thoroughly enjoyable play if you are lucky enough to get a production.

Very brave to take on this material: a hostage situation, a gun waving around and a bunch of fairly unlikeable anti-heroes stuck in a room together – yet it is all carried off with a delicious sense of underplay and irony that makes the play charismatic even if the characters in themselves are not.

My brief and pretty much only criticism is Ms Grysbowski who I feel is the still core and beating heart of the play. She is restricted to English/Polish speak in a way that limits her ability to communicate with any kind of eloquence yet I am convinced she has much more to say than any of the others and the potential for a richly ironic and perceptive take on events that is presently stilted – equally Stanley arrives a little late to have major impact. Perhaps he should arrive earlier or not at all.

This could have been a mess of a lay – overwritten, bombastic and grounded in reality – instead it is the opposite. The characters are fresh and engaging whilst at the same time being world weary and apathetic; none of them are likeable yet this just adds to the fun of watching them struggle with their existence and their fears and loathings of each other. They snipe, joke, physically attack and banter with each other, try and discover some common truths and pretty much fail at every challenge – in the end they are all self-serving and shallow yet they are also fully drawn and occupy individual depth within the context of the piece.

The theatricality comes from the excellent pace and interweaving of the dialogue – a very competent handling of the play that allows what action there is, back stories, narrative twists and revelations to emerge almost by accident as the characters are too busy arguing with each other and betraying their self-absorption to notice much else. Reading it is very much like being on one side of a window that opens into the souls of a very disparate and flawed bunch of people going about their lives, albeit in somewhat extreme circumstances.

There is nothing more fraught with danger than going for a hostage situation and the presence of a handgun as core elements in a stage play but these elements are handled in such an offhand and casual manner as to be no more than the next worse thing in what was already a very bad day for all concerned.

The story is told in a breathless rush that begins on page one and continues unabated to the last page but the rhythms and tidal flows of emotion give the nuances and breathing spaces necessary to keep everything palatable.

All new plays would benefit from rewrites in the light of external criticism or observation and this one is no exception but it works very well as it stands – it has a big heart and a lot of ambition yet doesn’t get carried away with itself. Rewrites will tighten the scenes and tease out some of the themes but (as a writer) I wouldn’t bother doing them until you get to pre-rehearsal discussions with an Artistic Director or Dramaturg – the play speaks for itself and deserves a performance.

Keep up the good work!