Richard Bean, psychologist, stand-up comedian and author of the award-winning One Man, Two Guvnors, wrote The Mentalists, a two-hander, which was staged at the National Theatre in 2002. It is now as a vehicle for the stage debut of Stephen Merchant, a highly experienced stand-up comedian, and the award-wining co-creator and executive producer of the phenomenally successful television series, The Office.
Merchant’s casting raises expectations that the play is going to be funny; but the first act fails to produce much laughter. He spends most of his time in boxer shorts, which only serve to emphasize his height. He is 6 foot 7 inches. He plays a middle-manger in an industrial cleaning firm who is deranged and wants to create a Utopian community and change the world’s behaviour. He decides to make a recruitment video and asks his best mate, (Steffan Rhodri), a hairdresser and amateur cameraman, to help him.
The comedy gets darker in the second half and turns into quite a different and potentially more interesting drama. I wish that the director, Abbey Wright, had directed both acts in a Pinteresque manner. As it stands now the two acts don’t gel and play doesn’t really work