Dave Florez’s three-hander is a polished production with a tacky plot line.

With the Park Theatre’s stage effectively transformed by Sarah Perks’ design into a bland open-plan kitchen/living space, we unsurprisingly find ourselves in mid-life crisis territory. Forty-something Colin (Nicolas Burns) has received a gift in a patisserie box. Given that publicity images show such a box surrounded by a number of flies, it is no spoiler to reveal that the content is, to say the least, unsavoury.

Having stressed during his workday about the possible donor of the gift, Colin shares what it is with his sister Lisa (Laura Haddock) and her husband Brian (Alex Price), who alternate between telling him to bin it and pandering to Colin’s increasingly deranged desire to get to the bottom of things. And yes, puns like that are the level of much of the humour.

Alfred Hitchcock was fond of a MacGuffin – a device that concerns the characters in a drama and drives their motives but which is of incidental interest to the audience. Tipping Colin into self-doubt and anxiety over his past deeds, the thing-in-the-box does its job as a MacGuffin, particularly in the second act when the actual gift gets less stage time. Unfortunately while there might be some humour derived from the nature of what’s in the box for 10 minutes, stretching this to an hour makes for an increasingly tedious first act.

Aside from puerile jokes about the gift, most of the first act sees Colin racking over past misdemeanours, none of which are particularly terrible, and declaiming how the gift has prompted him to change, all the while his behaviour is clearly showing that he has not. While change is afoot in the second act, why it has then become possible is underdeveloped, and any sense of lasting change undermined by Colin’s final actions.

These weaknesses in the play’s structure are mercifully compensated for by the commitment that all three actors bring to the piece. Burns’ Colin is a terrific bundle of nervous energy and paranoia, while Price’s brother-in-law Brian is convincing as a man hiding his insecurities behind humour.

With the two male characters often getting over excited, it is a relief to have Haddock bring calm, sense and maturity to the role of Lisa. When Colin and Brian regress to acting like stroppy adolescents, it is a genuine joy to watch Haddock’s quiet look of bemusement revealing her lack of ever hoping to understand these men. Adam Meggido’s direction underpins these strong performances by never letting the action flag.

There are strong scenes, particularly when only two of the characters are onstage. The glimpses we get of Lisa’s relationship with her brother contrast nicely with the scenes with her husband. Towards the end, there is even a moment of genuine engagement between the two men. It is a pity we do not get to see these relationships develop more. Perhaps a piece less determined to be a comedy could have been a serious exploration of whether or not individuals and relationships can change.

Under its barrage of schoolyard humour, The Gift has moments of thoughtfulness.

*** Three stars

Reviewed by: Mike Askew

The Gift plays at Park Theatre London until 1 March, with further info here.