The first casualty of war is the truth, as the saying goes, and in Ross Ericson’s intense 90-minute play we see plenty of deception and pretence, blarney and uncertainty. Gary and Mike are soldiers involved in dismantling explosive devices in Afghanistan. Gary is relieved to be away from his nagging wife Emma, yet soon the grimness of the conflict gnaws at him, and Mike’s dourness gives way to jittery insolence.
The two men’s bomb disposal work calls to mind The Hurt Locker and its portrait of courage under fire but their off-duty talk is more like the edgy jabber of addicts. Harsh conditions, fierce adversaries and faulty kit are not their only problems. Gradually we see that the most bitter consequences of a life spent fighting a doomed war are personal, as relationships splinter and self-confidence disintegrates.
In Harry Burton’s production all the performances are vivid. Alex Ferns’s Gary is laddish, sometimes caustic and sometimes jovial. Finlay Robertson is persuasive as Mike, as is Emma Stansfield as Emma, who proves unexpectedly important to the plot. Finally Patrick Toomey brings a quivering rawness to Peter, a disabled officer whose relentless investigations raise awkward questions.
The traverse staging — Ericson’s decision rather than the director’s — creates some difficult sightlines here, and a couple of scenes are too static. But this is a lucid account of a decently crafted play that covers familiar ground from a usefully unfamiliar angle.
Until July 14, 020 7870 6876, parktheatre.co.uk
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