The Gift review – an existential ‘poo-dunnit' that keeps on giving

Yahoo

30-01-2025

A cake box arrives in the post, sent special delivery to Colin (Nicholas Burns), a 40-something north Londoner who works in advertising. But inside lies an offence wrapped in cling film that leaves Colin speechless: it is not cake but cack, as his brother-in-law, Brian (Alex Price), points out.
So begins playwright Dave Florez's comedy, which sends Colin spiralling into crisis. His sister Lisa (Laura Haddock) and Brian buzz worriedly around him while he asks soul-searching questions of himself and of the box. Who could have sent it? Rupert from the advertising company, whom Colin recently laid off? Or someone further back whom he wronged at university and school? Who might want to wrong him? And was his gift from a human or animal source?
Colin feels both guilty and angry at the anonymous sender by turns, while Lisa and Brian first encourage him to solve the 'poo-dunnit', then watch his growing obsession with concern.
Snappily directed by Adam Meggido, the scenario is not exactly novel but is hugely amusing, and Florez has clear talent for zinging lines as Colin's conscience catches up with him. 'I have only thought of number one so is this number two?' he wonders.
The set, designed by Sara Perks, is a pale grey kitchen cum living room which looks like the backdrop for a sitcom. The idea as a whole is reminiscent of the 00s American sitcom My Name Is Earl, with similar questions about guilt, regret and karma.
The attempts to hit more serious notes are not always as successful as the humour. But the delivery of the box is the starting gun for an existential unravelling, and then a reset, for Colin. The production loses some of its potency in the last half hour, and the final act ties too neat a bow, as if keen to stave off Colin's darkness. But it does not matter when the script is so entertaining and the actors hit all the comic beats. It is silly and strangely warming stuff.
At Park theatre, London, until 1 March