Jones: Well we were going to see Ecstasy - we had the tickets, we’d eaten our pre-theatre supper and when we got to the theatre we were told the performance had been cancelled. What happened to understudies and “The show must go on” I asked myself. Ecstasy (as it so often seems to be) has been re-scheduled but, as we were already in the West End, we were allowed to go to see In a Forest Dark and Deep, Neil LaBute’s latest offering, which obviously isn’t playing to packed houses. I knew nothing about the play before walking into the theatre so had no expectations at all, which was, perhaps, lucky. I found it disappointing. A brother and sister meet to pack up a lakeside cabin rented by the sister and all sorts of sibling stuff comes out, but I found it hard to care as I didn’t feel much sympathy, or empathy, for either of the protagonists. Matthew Fox performed well on stage  in what must be his first leading theatre role after his success in television’s “Lost”. There were some funny lines but it was neither funny enough nor, indeed, dark enough to ever get truly intriguing. Perhaps I shouldn’t carp – it was free after all…

Smith:  Jonesey, Jonesey… a bit harsh don’t you think?  We were disappointed about not being able to see Ecstasy.  This consolation prize didn’t really have a chance did it?  For me, the play sufferred because of direction that wasn’t quite tight enough.  Tepid is the word that comes to mind.  This brother and sister had a past…a turbulent one and we were only allowed to stay on its periphery in both its literal history and its emotional detail.  Olivia Williams was a real disappointment.  I had heard good things about her although I hadn’t seen much of her work previously.  She seemed so focused on getting her box-standard aping of an American accent right that she forgot that she was in a relationship on stage.  Matthew Fox – pretty, pretty boy – was an upside surprise on the other hand.   I thought his portrayal of this backwoods redneck was pretty much on target.  Unfortunately, Williams gave him precious little to push off of.

I fear the theatre would have been rather empty had others, like us, not come over from the canceled Ecstasy performance.  Perhaps a harsh indictment?  Perhaps a sign of the pickiness of recession-fearing theatre-goers these days.

Pretty, pretty boy.  Come on.  Give it a go…