Review: What’s He Building In There? Zoo

He’s a self-employed furniture maker living hand-to-mouth, she wants him to get a proper job – together they reinforce stereotypes surrounding male and female attitudes as their relationship falls apart. **

A nicely set-up world – revolving around a workshop filled with sawdust and a special chair – doesn’t deliver the satire on life and work that the piece would like to be. Its attempts at creating an absurdist tone lead to laboured performances and characters that feel almost as wooden as the set. It’s a shame that the predictable story hasn’t had as much attention as the superficial topcoat.

Until 18 August. Today noon.