PLAY REVIEW: Da Vinci’s Laundry ★★★

 

Da Vinci’s Laundry at Riverside Studios is a clever evening out: sharp, stylish, but ultimately somewhat hollow in its reach. Keelan Kember has fashioned a satire of the art world that gleefully skewers its excesses; the inflated prices, the dubious provenance, the oligarchs, the fixers, all dressed up in white‑cube aesthetic. Often it’s good fun; occasionally, one wishes it had the guts to go further.

Kember himself plays Christopher, an art assessor whose professional polish begins to crack under pressure, and he is well matched by Arsema Thomas as Milly, whose steadiness, wit and moral unease provide something of the show’s emotional anchor. Steve Zissis’s Tony bursts on stage with brash energy, delivering some of the show’s broadest comedy; whether it always lands is another matter. John Albasiny’s Boris and Fayez Bakhsh’s Prince offer vivid caricatures of wealth and privilege, though the play sometimes lets them drift into stereotype rather than character.

Eleanour Wintour’s design is elegant: the blank walls, minimal props, and the occasional shimmering nod (there is a Balloon Dog, for example) underscore how empty the promise of authenticity can feel. Jack Hathaway’s lighting keeps the pace moving, its colour washes compensating for the lack of variety in set. Director Merle Wheldon rarely allows the momentum to slack, but she does little to deepen the thematic tensions that the play raises; forgery, authenticity, power, morality, into anything more than surfaces to be nodded at.

The dialogue is witty, often funny; there are flashes of insight about art as image, art as commerce. But the longer speeches feel under‑built, the plot occasionally bits‑and‑bobs, and the romance subplot seems tacked on. For those looking for entertainment with bite, Da Vinci’s Laundry delivers in part, but it doesn’t leave a lasting stain. A good night out, but not the art‑world exposé it could have aspired to be.