What’s it all about?
Quoth ABBA, “money, money, money”.
Slightly less funny, however, when a matter of life and death. Successful American banker Nick Bright is mistakenly kidnapped by a naïve but opportunistic group of self-proclaimed revolutionaries, imprisoned within a decrepit cell and branded with an ambitious ten million dollar ransom on his head, a pawn at the centre of a deadly global economic game.
But with a wealth of influence, experience and knowledge within the stock market to call upon, Nick sets about amassing the funds himself. Through the tap of a keyboard here and a potentially life-saving purchase there, so commences a brilliantly intricate, adrenaline-charged battle fraught with tension, corruption, gambling, violence and sheer ruthlessness, and all in greater quantities than your average Christmas family game of Monopoly.
Who’s in it?
Television and stage star Daniel Lapaine is Bright by name, bright by nature as the expert stockbroker – and eventual cash-cow – milked by his hosts. Furious in urgently imparting ad-hoc lessons in theory to his captors, but evocatively desperate as their punching bag, Lapaine is astute as a hostage with more than the one trick up his sleeve.
Tony Jayawardena, Sid Sagar and Parth Thakerar play his captors to volatile perfection, turning power plays on their head with a menacing brandish of their weaponry.
What should I look out for?
The eponymous ‘invisible hand’ – the undercurrent of self-interest that keeps the marketplace ticking along – taking hold of characters more and more tangibly throughout. Money at the root of all evil indeed.
A crash course in applied economics so effective and to the point, you’ll wonder what the fuss of all that ‘university’ lark is about.
In a nutshell?
Insightful, intriguing, ingenious, The Invisible Hand is a sure-fire investment for those seeking taut thrills – and hard-hitting truths – in a sterling script.
What’s being said on Twitter?
brilliant edge of your seat writing @TricycleTheatre #InvisibleHand latest play from @ayadakhtar standout performances for @IRubasingham
— defibrillator (@defibtheatre) May 18, 2016
Will I like it?
Demanding thinking caps are placed firmly on heads, The Invisible Hand is the antithesis of a passive view. You won’t need a degree to understand that the questions raised here are sharp and brim with pertinence, but infused with hostage drama tension, unbridled adrenaline explodes from the stage.
Ahead of its impending renovations, The Invisible Hand is a fittingly thoughtful farewell to the Tricycle as we know it; an excellent purchase.
The Invisible Hand is playing at the Tricycle Theatre until 2 July. You can book tickets through the venue’s website.