The first thing that strikes an audience member walking into ADC Main Piranha Heights is how much one feels like one is in the Corpus Playroom. The set is done up in the realistic-interior style which has become (one imagines through necessity) so beloved to productions in the ADC’s sister theatre. This is, however, an ADC Main, and certainly the energy levels are being pushed to heights that equal the prestige of the programming.

Harrison MacNeill opens the play, and is quickly joined by Benedict Clarke as they portray Alan and Terry, two brothers returning to their dead mother’s apartment to divvy up the estate. The sitting-room set is made more interesting by the inclusion of working interior lights, which creates a realism against which the ambiguous truth of events in the script contrasted very nicely. A decision to place a lamp at exactly head height on stage right was, however, unfortunate, as it blocked the actors throughout the first half. This was rectified during the interval, but it felt like something that should have been noticed prior to the first performance. In addition to this, the interior walls of the flat were both uneven and shaky. While it may be assumed to be difficult to create quite so much panelling on a budget, a decision to thrust someone against a wall in a later fight scene seemed to draw attention to this quite unnecessarily.

The production, as I mentioned above, was incredibly high in energy. Clarke and MacNeill did very well in portraying sibling-esque squabbling and, with a hilarious script, they delivered the funny lines very well. If anything, all the actors could be more confident in the humour of their delivery, as some lines were muffled by laughter at previous ones; this play is very funny, and pauses for laughter are necessary. Unfortunately, some of the more colourful insults were unconvincing in their delivery, as was the constant repetition of “bruv” when Clarke and MacNeill addressed each other, although this could be a problem with the script, as much as with acting or direction. The brothers and their squabbling are soon interrupted by Lilly (Maya Yousif) and Medic (Seun Adekoya), and their baby Bubba, who come from a neighbouring squat with the intention of moving in. Not knowing anything about the play before, I was totally taken aback by the character of Lilly, although it must be mentioned that the women in late middle age who sat next to me found her hilarious. Medic’s rapidly changing moods are handled very well and amusingly by Adekoya, albeit sometimes without the slickness for which one might hope.

Although I did, broadly speaking, enjoy the acting and was impressed by the diversity of the cast, the entrance of Lilly and Medic seemed to make clear a directorial concept which necessitated always having one character jumping around the stage. The burden of excessive movement was distributed in turn, mostly between Adekoya, Yousif, and Clarke. When the actors were allowed to be physically calmer, their talent was showcased a lot more clearly, and they became exponentially more enjoyable to watch. This made the second half far more enjoyable as, although there was a lot of heavily choreographed fighting, the actors were by and large more physically restrained, allowing the darkly funny writing to shine through.

The second half also brought the entrance of Eleanor Lind Booton, as Alan’s son Garth. Lind Booton’s performance stood out, all the more so, perhaps, because she was more physically subdued than the other characters, and she and Adekoya excelled as a highly menacing duo. Piranha Heights hinges upon pairings of characters and I felt that Lind Booton and Adekoya were by far the best of these. The acting overall was far more enjoyable to watch in the second half, and all the actors involved, especially Clarke, gave alternatively even funnier and more touching performances.

Throughout the performance one felt that the actors were very good, but the direction, which could over-emphasise movement at the expense of delivery, let them down a bit. By movement I mean the scenes in general, rather than the fight choreography, which was mostly very well done, with only a few first night hiccoughs. Equally, the tech was excellent, and Dylan Phelps and Fernando Georgiou, on light and sound respectively, should be very proud of their work. I particularly enjoyed their suggestion of the weather outside, which they handled very professionally.

Piranha Heights was written as a one act play, and is only about 90 minutes long. Performance in the ADC main slot necessitates an interval, which didn’t particularly add anything to the performance, although it was quite well placed. Overall, one is left with the suggestion one began with – though enjoyable, amusing, and worth seeing, this production might have been better placed in the Corpus Playroom. If it had, the smaller space would have heightened the intensity (and provided less room to jump around in) and the ADC Main slot might have been given to a production with more scope and slickness.

Piranha Heights is on at the ADC Theatre at 7.45pm, 23-27th January