Max McGuinness

Please use the sharing tools found via the share button at the top or side of articles. Copying articles to share with others is a breach of FT.com T&Cs and Copyright Policy. Email licensing@ft.com to buy additional rights. Subscribers may share up to 10 or 20 articles per month using the gift article service. More information can be found at https://www.ft.com/tour. https://www.ft.com/content/4c99b702-8468-4f4f-97ff-9dc0311aa726 These weaknesses mean that Arbus’s staging struggles to come together for much of act one. The cast then strike up a more coherent rhythm after the interval, grounded in a lively, physical style of performance that makes nimble use of Riccardo Hernández’s capacious design. Despite an ever-present limp, Shannon now barnstorms around the theatre, creating a pleasing manifestation of the tramps’ circuitous arguments. And the four men’s existential exhaustion is neatly summed up when they all collapse in a heap in the middle of the road.

Those two episodes constitute the dramatic heart of Graham's mesmerisingly accomplished play, whose 18-strong cast is directed by Rupert Goold with characteristic razzmatazz that cleverly evokes The Sun's own brand of infotainment.