Patience
John Thaxter , What's On Magazine

Having cheated at squash, Reuben is first deserted by his wife then fired by the cellphone company he created: seemingly a case of what goes around comes around. But when his estranged younger brother suddenly dies he gets lectured on chaos theory and the uncertainty principle by his smart older brother, by women he meets in cafes and bars, assorted kooks, even a Rabbi trawling for lapsed Jews. But Reuben is in no mood for homilies… Adam Barnard recently won directing spurs at the Orange Tree with his pacey staging of a Canadian one-acter… It makes brilliant use of a simple but ingenious setting by Vicki Fifield. Promising comic exchanges pop up after the interval, but are snuffed out when Reuben is forced to recognise that he’s a walking disaster area, sucking oxygen out of a room just by making an entrance.

Geoffrey Towers as Reuben, wrestles drily with this morose, chain-smoking sad sack. There’s also energy in the performances of Chris Andrew Mellon as Reuben’s brother, making a fool of himself with a student half his age; Nicola Herring as a deft young pianist both men fancy: and Sandy Walsh, wide-eyed and womanly as Reuben’s long-lost love

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