Red Speedo: a 'darkly comic' doping drama

Finn Cole as Ray sitting by the pool in Red Speedo at the Orange Tree Threatre.

Finn Cole is 'utterly compelling' to watch

(Image credit: Johan Persson)

published 25 July 2024

The UK premiere of Lucas Hnath's play, "Red Speedo", at the Orange Tree Theatre, has been "cannily scheduled" to coincide with the Paris Olympics, said Chris Wiegand in The Guardian. As doping rows rumble on and a doping-friendly Enhanced Games begins to look like it could become a reality in 2025, the debate at the heart of the play certainly feels topical.

Directed by Matthew Dunster, the action follows aspiring Olympic swimmer Ray (Finn Cole) who is on the verge of signing a hefty promotional contract with Speedo. When performance-enhancing drugs are discovered in the communal fridge at his club, his life is thrown into disarray. The audience is launched into the ensuing row between Ray, his lawyer brother Peter (Ciaran Owens) and his coach (Fraser James).

In the real world, Ray would be the type of person you'd try to avoid, said Rachel Halliburton in The Times. "Reptilian, repellent and ruthless", this is a man who is so morally corrupt, "he's closer to pond life than pool life". But the "darkly comic" show's "taut, muscular humour" makes him "utterly compelling" to watch. Cole "never succumbs to the temptation of hamming it up"; instead he brings "emotional honesty" to his portrait of a man "cocooned in his own stupidity" and convinced that his ill-judged actions are for "the greater good".

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The casting is "finely balanced", said Helen Hawkins on The Arts Desk. Cole is a "believable chump", while Owens is even more savage, expertly delivering "snide zingers" as the "snake-oil salesman with a suit and law degree". Engaging and pacy, Dunster's production "zips along", and plot twists are carefully rationed out, right up until the very last pivotal scene.

Anna Fleischle's "striking" set is a "mosaic of blue" and features a mini swimming pool illuminated by Sally Ferguson's "shimmering" lights, while Holly Khan's sound further adds to the "tension", said The Guardian. But the "stakes do not feel high enough" in the closing moments and could do with being "ratcheted up" a notch.

"It's highly unusual for a play to feel too short", added Julia Rank in What's On Stage. However, with a 90-minute running time and no interval "Red Speedo" feels "a tad skimpy".

Still, it didn't stop Halliburton in The Times from bestowing a glowing five-star rating on Lucas Hnath's play: I thought it was "poisonous perfection".

Irenie Forshaw is a features writer at The Week, covering arts, culture and travel. She began her career in journalism at Leeds University, where she wrote for the student newspaper, The Gryphon, before working at The Guardian and The New Statesman Group. Irenie then became a senior writer at Elite Traveler, where she oversaw The Experts column.