Rules for Living, National Theatre ****

 Some situations just seem fun to make a play about. Christmas Day running side by side with a game show is one such situation. Unfortunately, it is being played in one of my least favourite theatres. Whereas the other two theatres at the National offer cheap seats with fantastic views of the stage, you have to pay £50 to get a full view of the stage at the Dorfman. The play itself lived up to the irresistible premise. It is hilarious yet, if you choose to delve deeper, Holcroft's play holds substance. Whilst no ones Christmas could get much worse than this, you will almost certainly identify aspects of each character in your family. For me, the Adam's (Mangan) views on games resonated with me as did the views on lager expressed at the beginning. This familiarity gets the audience on board so that they can take it darker and to extremes and get away with it. If you aren't taken in at the beginning, I could imagine that the madness that ensues could be quite tedious. The design is wonderful from Chloe Lamford, with a game board design that works cleverly, weaving the two main themes of the best lay in an aesthetically pleasing and realistic way. Kate Waters directs the fighting so that it is funny yet realistic. Perhaps Marianne Elliot directs it more comedically than dark making the final scene seem slightly disjointed. However, I feel that this is an excellently executed comedy that hits almost all the right notes in spite of it's venue.