'The Motherfucker With The Hat' at the National Theatre

'The Motherfucker with the Hat' is the new American import at the National Theatre and it is fab! I suspect the title alone puts some people off going to see it but don't - you must see it. Despite the language, it's a very touching play about people who've made the wrong choice at some point in their lives - they're not bad people at all, just flawed, like most of us. And, by the way, it's not the motherfucker with the hat, it's someone else....

For some obscure reason I loved this play. I don't know why since by all accounts I should hate it and all the characetres but I don't. I empathise with them. And that's part of the joy of this play since it makes you think again. I haven't had a good time with 'working class' American plays this year ('View from the Bridge' and 'American Buffalo') but this was different. It was what it was and I enjoyed it all the more for being a straightforward story (or not so straightforward given all the twists and turns) with a sad ending. And yes, it is sad.

It's the tale of an ex-con who finally gets a job to keep his girlfriend happy but who suspects she's been sleeping with the bloke downstairs because he finds a hat and that bloke always wears a hat. We follow his jealousy for a few days only to find out that it's someone else who's been sleeping with her who she really doesn't want - I won't say who in case you're due to see it (it came as a big surprise). She wants him, her lover, but things have gone wrong. In the final scene he tries to win her back but ....

The whole play is about people who've made the wrong choices at some stage in their lives. My favourite character was cousin Julio who doesn't really like his cousin, the protagonist, but supports him for his mother's sake. And then he tells the tale of how they got high at the age of 11 and the protagonist went off with the cool kids leaving Julio alone only to reappear five minutes later with munchies. Not such a bad cousin after all, eh?

It's a sad tale of misunderstood people. The set is excellent with each scene being staged in a different apartments which slide on out of the darkness of the stage and change the atmosphere. The actors are all really convincing and even the British actors pull off a credible New York accent. The language is, of course, on the dirty side of foul but it's all in keeping with the play. I didn't expect to love it but I did. And you don't want to fall foul of Julio Van Damm!