Lloyd Evans Lloyd Evans

Disquieting truths

issue 07 July 2012

Fear is a new drama by Dominic Savage and it’s one of the nastiest plays I’ve ever seen. It’s also one of the most scrappily written. Yet the subject matter and the clunky script make it weirdly captivating. We meet a pair of teenage muggers who hang around posh bits of London scoping out victims and totting up their ‘net worth’. A typical yuppie banker sports about five grand’s worth of portable accessories: Swiss watch, smart phone, designer briefcase, bespoke shoes, wallet full of cash. And these two muggers are expert valuers of lucrative prey. When they strike, they seek more than just upmarket goods. They want revenge as well.

A favourite ploy is to brutalise their victims and confront them with the proposition that robbery is morally justifiable in an unequal society. It’s an ethical night school for bankers. But things go wrong when they stab a millionaire financier to death.

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