Truly, Dalia Ibelhauptaite is a name to conjure with, and with her second London production, this Lithuanian director conjures up a dazzling production of Gogol's "The Gamblers" at the Kilburn Tricycle.
Designer Oleg Sheintsis crowds the stage with four glowingly black hansom cabs in this Russian-British collaboration. Each is occupied by a top-hatted, white-tied gambler. One only, Ikharev, played by Oleg Menshikov, the floppy-haired Russian charmer of "When She Danced", is a stranger. He has devoted himself to acquiring the skills of a card-sharper and is looking for more prey. There follows a stunning con-game that rivals "The Sting". To say more would be to ruin it for you when - as you must - you see it.
But there is more to this production than plot. Ibelhauptaite reinvigorates old-style expressionism. Cards cascade across the stage, flickering from the gamblers' hands in fountains, bursting out of containers like fireworks; games blur by like low-flying aircraft.
On top of this there are silk-smooth performances, threatening as webs, from Phil Daniels, Peter Silverleaf and Mark Rylance. The text is "a new version" by Chris Hannan, but, as I know no other version, I can only say that it, too, makes its contribution to 100 unbroken minutes of sheer theatrical flair.

Submitted by Jane Grey