A dining table set with four chairs stands centre stage, a candelabra taking pride of place as the audience awaits the arrival of the evening’s guests.
James (Max Allen, who also wrote the play) is the first to appear. As the host of the dinner party, he carefully seals a document inside an envelope before welcoming his former public school classmates. As executor of a will in which they all appear to have an interest, he has summoned this select group for what ostensibly should be a straightforward evening.
The first guest to arrive is Rupert (Cameron Forrest), a spectacularly unlikeable man whose overbearing personality could perhaps only be tolerated by his mother. He breezes in with bluster and arrogance, immediately criticising his host, the wine, the food, the wine pairing, and even the surroundings. Forrest relishes every moment of Rupert’s pomposity, creating a character whose entitlement, privilege and false sense of superiority seep from every line. He succeeds brilliantly in making Rupert someone the audience loves to loathe.
Next comes Geoffrey, played by Elliott Diner with understated charm. In contrast to Rupert’s bombast, Geoffrey is relaxed, suave and quietly self-assured, offering a more measured presence around the table.
The final guest is Gemma, played by Polly Towers, who arrives with air kisses, affectionate “darlings” and an easy familiarity. As the quartet begins reminiscing about their school days, however, the nostalgic warmth gradually gives way to something far more unsettling. References to a mysterious game called Persona, in which they all once participated, are dropped with increasing unease. The conversation grows sharper and more uncomfortable, with Rupert once again taking the lead as he bullies and pressures James to abandon the meal and simply read the will.
As the evening unfolds, the veneer of civility rapidly disintegrates. The play descends into an increasingly dark examination of cruelty, manipulation and the corrosive effects of privilege, exposing the toxic dynamics that have simmered beneath the surface for years.
Allen’s writing is taut and witty, with razor-sharp dialogue that keeps the pace brisk throughout. The humour is pitch black, offsetting the growing tension and making the play as entertaining as it is unsettling.
Persona is a fast-moving, darkly comic thriller that explores power, privilege and the lasting scars of the past. It is an engaging evening of theatre, provided you can stomach spending seventy minutes in the company of some truly unbearable characters.
Review by Bernadette Lintunen
Four boarding school alumni gather in a secluded country house to divide a dead friend’s inheritance over dinner, but the evening soon begins to unravel. Insults are flung, compliments curdle into cruelty, and civility fractures as social grace is pushed to its breaking point.
Deliciously disturbing, Persona is a gripping, darkly comic and cathartically unsettling reunion from award-winning LAMDA graduate company Namesake Theatre.
Fast-paced, gripping, and by turns hilarious and hellish, Persona peels back the curtain on the masks we wear to survive, asking what, if anything, lies beneath.
Cast: Max Allen, Cameron Forrest, Polly Towers, Elliott Diner
Writer – Max Allen
Director – Olivia Woods
Producer – Leo Oliva
Sound Designer – Amy Pix
Set, Props and Costume Designer – Emily Cave
Fight Director – Joseph Reed
Intimacy Coordinator – Raffaella Barbieri
Social Media Manager – Taylor Macintyre
PERSONA
King’s Head Theatre, 29 and 30 June 2026
theSpaceTriplex at the Edinburgh Fringe, 17 to 29 August 2026
