REVIEW: MEN'S BUSINESS @ FINBOROUGH THEATRE

🎭 Men's Business

📍 Finborough Theatre, 118 Finborough Road, London, SW10 9ED

🗓 Sunday 23rd March 2025

⭐️⭐️

A POINTLESS PRODUCTION

MEN'S BUSINESS playing at London's Finborough Theatre is the world premiere of Tony and Olivier award-winner Simon Stephen's new version of Franz Xavier Kroetz's Mannersache.

It follows the story of Charlie and her love affair with Victor in the back room of her butcher's shop! Victor is chauvinistic and manipulative but Charlie seems to have faith that he is the one - even when he constantly puts her down and only seems to be interested in sex.

Unfortunately for me, MEN'S BUSINESS left me feeling deflated and as if I'd lost 80 minutes of my life I was never going to get back. The book is awful and is completely lacking in any direction. It's as if the writer didn't understand the characters at all and I was constantly asking myself "do people really talk like this?". The entire script felt manufactured and extremely unnatural. Maybe this has something to do with it being translated from its original German, but the play quickly hit a wall and never recovered.

Kudos to actors Lauren Farrell and Rex Ryan who did their best with the script and acted the piece very well, but I honestly struggle to find a reason for putting this piece on in the first place. With scenes of sex and animal cruelty it feels like MEN'S BUSINESS has been written for shock value and with so much dedication to the cause, the play lacks any substance and is actually quite boring. I personally felt that the story was soulless and it felt dated and out of touch with reality.

The set design here was good and served its purpose well, as did the lighting design. The direction filled the stage but the scene changes felt unnecessarily drawn out and clunky, featuring the actors either putting clothes on or taking them off again.

I didn't see the need to use a real dog in the production as all he did was walk across the stage in one scene.

It's such a shame because the issues here all lie in the writing, and it felt like a waste of the talents of both the creative team and the cast as they are all obviously accomplished at what they do.

I wish I had more positive things to say about MEN'S BUSINESS as I generally really enjoy shows at Finborough Theatre, but sadly this one felt like a real misfire. As ever though I encourage you to make up your own mind and if you're interested in seeing this production it is playing until Saturday 12th April. Click here to book tickets.

Neill Kovacic-Clarke

All views are my own and I pride myself on being honest, fair and free from influence. Theatre is subjective and it is important to remember that all views expressed are just those of one person.

My ticket for this performance of Men's Business was gifted by Finborough Theatre who invited me to watch the show in exchange for my honest review. The fact that my ticket was gifted played no part in the content of my review or the star rating given.

CAST LIST:

Lauren Farrell as Charlie; Rex Ryan as Victor; Cooper as Dog

RUNNING TIME (approx):

1 hour 20 minutes, with no interval

CONTENT WARNINGS:

Nudity; Sexual acts; Animal cruelty; Firearms; Gunshots; Butchery; Smoking; Blood imagery