Fault Lines, directed by the US actor Matthew Lillard, is a study in what it means to be a loyal friend. It begins as an agile two-handed play about male relationships but turns into something far bigger as a complex series of "what ifs?" are induced by the unveiling of an old secret. What should we do when the people we rely on change, and become unrecognisable?
Stephen Belber's sharp script is delivered urgently as beers are sunk in the back room of a bar. Things mount when Bill (Dean Chekvala) confronts his partner Jess (Zibby Allen) about an intimate moment she shared with Jim (Bill's best friend, played by George Griffith). Bill is “categorically” moral, but should the line ever blur?
Lillard's direction heightens the play's debates by making the very best of a tight performance space - Fault Lines's four cast members are metres apart as the plot splits them - thematically - further and further apart.
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It is easy to stage plays about middle aged men chewing the fat in bars. But Belber's writing is provocative and juicy, crafting three dimensional people, not plain stereotypes.
Phantom Owl Productions stage a play about the implausibility of the neat judgement call: Fault Lines is both dramatic in its bite and restrained in its sensitive portrayals of loss and gain.
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