This ninety minutes in a quite classy bar/nightclub in the company of four ageing members of a gang together with a younger turk passed pretty effortlessly but had no real lasting effect on me. The entire actors' section of the theatre is the bar area where the action takes place. The bar is owned by one of the aged gang members - Gus - and the action opens with him engaging with Leslie. They are joined by Trent and Selwyn, but not by Shaun who they were expecting for a 'release' party. Instead, the younger Fraser is introduced to the group by Selwyn who believes him to be a relative. However, this youngster is recognised by Leslie as a cellmate who had messed about with Leslie's shoes. He is also recognised by Trent as a member of a gang who had menaced him a few days earlier. It transpires that he is, far from Selwyn's relative, the illegitimate son of Gus.
Without going into the detail of the plot, it is interesting to watch how sense is slowly made of who is who and why the gang are so against holding up a supermarket, as proposed by Fraser. The problem for me is what the takeaways are meant to be. Certainly the acting was great and all the brawls that flared up were convincingly done. All this action may have given insight into what 'real' gangs are like. However, I had the nagging feeling that I wanted reassurance that writer Roy Williams really new what this different world was like.
In summary, I was glad I went to see The Firm but I did not feel it was a memorable piece of work.
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