In the European premiere of Mark Gerrard’s witty and touching play, we meet a group of five forty-something New Yorkers in Manhattan restaurant, Joe Allen. They are celebrating Steven’s (David Ames) 47th birthday. The Seven Dials Playhouse, a 100-seater venue (seating some of the audience at restaurant tables on the stage), is fittingly cosy for this play about a close group of friends. They are all going through something; the challenges of monogamy in a long-term relationship, acceptance (or not) of ageing, parenthood and preparing for loss. 

As the table revolves on the stage, their quipping shows us the dynamics of the gang and who they are seamlessly (with the exception of Brian [Giles Cooper] who comes into his own later on). Steven and Stephen (Joe Aaron Reid), a businessman aptly dressed in a slick suit, have been together for a long time, have a young son little Stevie (what else would he be called?!) and are struggling with parenthood and one another. Matt (Michael Walters) and Carrie (Jenna Russell) are Steven’s best friends. The three of them worked together as young singing waiters when they had high hopes of pursuing careers in showbiz. These dreams have not materialised (aside from Carrie’s new found fame as a blogger), Steven is now a stay at home dad and Matt is not a creative either. Carrie is dying (her blog is about cancer) and her partner, Lisa (as a show of solidarity from her chums, called another four letter word whenever she’s mentioned), has left her. Brian is Matt’s partner and they have a new found love, exercise, or rather Steve (yes, Steve), their personal trainer, who never appears, but pops up in conversation a lot, so we can get the picture: he’s buff. Add to the party Ernesto (Nico Conde), their young Argentinian waiter, who also crops up throughout.   

Their banter feels familiar to anyone who still hangs out with old friends. The ones you love like family, aren’t afraid to be honest with (albeit selectively, as it turns out in Steven and Matt’s case) and whilst you talk about the now, the conversation is always littered with nostalgia. Their “thing” is Broadway musical theatre. The introduction of Steven, by Stephen, quoting the lyrics of ‘Rose’s Turn’ from Gypsy, as he bounds over to Carrie and Stephen at the table, sets us up nicely for the presence of another Stephen (Sondheim). The script is perfectly peppered with lines from musicals they have clearly consumed together over the years, which they use to deal humorously with anything serious, and is coupled nicely with pokes at some of the big stars. If Kristin Chenoweth and Amy Adams saw this during its Off-Broadway run in 2015, we hope they were prepared! 

The celebratory chit chat doesn’t last (for the audience at least). There’s something up with Steven. He’s found out that Stephen and Brian have been “sexting” (something he doesn’t tell Brian, even though he plays it out in his head in a clever scene when Ames beautifully blows up in the restaurant). What follows are scenes when this, the impending death of Carrie and Brian and Matt’s attempt at keeping things exciting, are explored. They are all struggling with getting old, as Steven aptly sums up to Carrie,  they are “four middle-aged men, and our occasional lady visitor, interested in the slightest recognition that we’re still sexually desirable to the sexually desirable, secretly afraid that weren’t not, but bravely clinging to the illusion – and each other…”. They seemed to be happier when they were waiting tables and singing show tunes, and so are trying to hold on to their once care free and hedonistic lives.  “Trainer” Steve moves in with Brian and Matt, “not exactly as a lodger” and Steven is distracted by Ernesto who seems to have several jobs that plant him wherever Steven goes. 

The characters have great chemistry as a group and in certain pairings. In particular, the scenes with just Carrie and Steven show an easy warmth between them. Ames and Russell play together with the humour and familiarity of old friends. Despite Carrie being the one who is dying, she’s the one comforting Steven who can’t forgive Stephen for the “sexting” and is finding it hard to accept she’s going.

Ames’ portrayal as the outwardly confident, although insecure, and a little uptight Steven, stands out. From his outburst at the beginning to the quieter acceptance of Carrie’s death, he plays funny, tragic, vulnerable and angry with equal conviction and is the only character who appears in every scene.  

The production is slick, especially a scene handled brilliantly by Joe Aaron Reid’s Stephen when he’s multi-texting Brian, Carrie and Steven (texts and “sexts” we get to see on pictures of them behind him in his apartment), whilst simultaneously being on the “land-line” (they are in their forties…) to the Steves’ moms. As the scene progresses, his exasperation with them all and his current situation is palpable. The musicals playlist in the background, played on the stage by talented pianist and musical director, Ben Papworth, is a constant reminder that they once believed life could be like a Broadway show. 

Steve is about the characters rather than being driven by a plot and for some, the ending may not resolve things satisfactorily. Giles Cooper does however steal the last scene as the drunk and gregarious Brian. Until then, we don’t know much about Brian and it would have been good to see him more and perhaps, if we’d had extra time with just Steven and Stephen, we’d have been more invested in what happens in their relationship. But the dialogue, the music and setting kept us engaged and we did want them to move forward through their crises, which we were happy to see they were trying to do. 

*** Three stars

Reviewed by: Victoria Willetts

Steve plays at the Seven Dials Playhouse until 19 March, with tickets available here.