Everyone loves a grifter. From Patricia Highsmith’s Tom Ripley to Anna Delvey, we’re suckers for the charming anti-hero, the confidence artist who plays by their own rules. So it’s no surprise that House of Games — David Mamet’s 1987 film, adapted by Richard Bean for the Almeida in 2010 — still exerts a certain pull. Restaged at Hampstead Theatre, Bean’s revival invites us back into an underbelly of sleaze, scams, and high-stakes hijinks.
We open in a therapy session between Dr Margaret Ford (Lisa Dillon), a Harvard-trained psychiatrist, and Bobby (Oscar Lloyd), an erratic gambler. When he mentions a shadowy place called The House of Games, Margaret follows him there (ethical code be damned) –ostensibly to help, but really because she’s bored and on the hunt for material for her next book. Here’s where you’ll need to suspend your disbelief: after just one visit, she’s in deep –drawn into the orbit of Mike (Richard Harrington), part Al Pacino, part De Niro, who offers her an insider’s view of the con.
This crew are less Ocean’s Eleven, more low-rent grifters
Dillon plays Ford with a cool restraint. Across her, Harrington’s Mike isn’t quite the smooth talker we might expect (there’s a whole conversation about dinner in between kisses), but he serves the story’s purpose: the man who knows exactly how to spot a crack and wedge himself into it.
Mike’s crew are less Ocean’s Eleven, more low-rent grifters. A frail old-timer, a blustering ‘bartender’, and a sleazy gambler round out the inner circle. Between beers and banter, there are flickers of a makeshift family, but in a brisk 1 hour and 45 minutes, we’re never fully sold on their backstory or bond.
Like Bean’s adaptation, Ashley Martin-Davis’s naturalistic set – with its clever split-level design – complements the cat-and-mouse pacing. Bean reshapes the play with his signature naturalism and wit, with some of the dialogue is lifted directly from the film. The result is undoubtedly entertaining, packed with reversals, double-crosses, and a Chekhov’s gun (perhaps referenced one too many times).
Slickly directed by Jonathan Kent, the production may be light on heart or emotional depth, but it more than makes up for it in style and fun. Here, the grift is the point – and it’s a thrill to watch it play out.
