The Dying of Today

Studio II:
'Do you like bad news?' asks the deliciously malicious Visitor (Duncan Bell), squirming with pleasure under a red light in his barber's chair. 'I do.' So does playwright Howard Barker: this new two-hander is inspired by Thucydides's account of the total loss of the Athenian army and navy, news which arrived unofficially in Piraeus via a visitor who was being shaved. Barker turns the scenario into a cat-and-mouse game where the diabolically long-winded Visitor prolongs the Barber's agony and his own enjoyment for as long as possible. There is a danger, though, that a play which is so exclusively fascinated with vanity and cruelty can itself appear narcissistic and sadistic. Director McArthur helps the actors make the most of the few opportunities for crisis in the script. But this structure – where the telling of a dreadful tale is stretched out over 70 artificially self-conscious minutes – also stretches the audience on the rack without ever making them feel real pain.