The Night Ali Died ****

The clue is in the title of this Raising Cain production: Ali’s destiny is signposted, his demise suggestive of a Shakespearean tragedy. An officious voiceover informs that he died of multiple stab wounds. As the production unfolds, it transpires that he seems to have been involved in the supply chain of MDMA and a contract had been placed on his life by a ruthless criminal.

Yet when we meet Ali (Chris Sainton-Clark) ... he doesn’t seem the sort of man likely to become embroiled in this sort of affair. In fact, determinism sits at the core of his being: a university degree in a sensible subject offering employment prospects, employment at a pharmaceuticals company, meeting a woman and having a baby before the age of 30 – he is seemingly resigned to societal expectations, an life shaped by expectation rather than desire.

That changes when he discovers that his colleague – also his best friend – has been manufacturing MDMA and is a pivotal link in a criminal supply chain. Ali ill-advisedly confronts his friend, triggering a sequence of events with terrible consequences, as the body count begins to increase.

The Night Ali Died leans into Chris Sainton-Clark’s desire to present bold, cinematic theatre. This deliberately minimalist production is tantamount to watching a one-man crime thriller, with the performer adeptly weaving in and out of various characters.

Sainton-Clark is an engaging and layered performer. A gifted storyteller with sharp comic timing, he skilfully uses physical theatre as the production unfolds, the pace relentless.

While one or two of the characters are in danger of drifting into caricature, it is the arc of Ali’s journey that anchors the drama. He is a repressed man, a ‘lab rat’ for large pharma, prone to obsessive-compulsive behaviour, resigned to his fate; yet when he finally breaks out, he finds his voice and becomes the father to his baby that he had wanted to be.