****
This is typical Ian McEwan: dark, strange, funny, involving twisted realities and unconventional childhoods. And David Pearse plays the man with a more unconventional childhood than most.
Kept as a baby by an obsessive mother well into his adult life, this is the story of his search for another haven of safe confinement (cue cupboard). David Pearse brings an impressive detail to his performance, finely capturing a character mordantly unaffected by people, yet movingly emotional about spaces. (His portrait of prison is so enchanting that it makes you want to run out and break a window straight away). Karl Shiels directs without fuss, admirably trusting stillness and plain old good acting to do the job. One criticism might be that McEwan's text still seems more short story than monologue - there is no subtext, revelation or dramatic centre to make this completely satisfying as drama.