Deposit, Hampstead Theatre Downstairs

Matt Hartley’s topical new play Deposit focuses on two couples looking to get a foothold on London’s ultra-competitive property ladder.
Deposit play summary
Rachel and Ben are looking to buy, and so are their friends Melanie and Sam, but with rising rent prices, taxes to pay, student loans still outstanding and pensions to think about, the prospect of putting down a deposit seems ever-distant. Solution? Live together.
Sharing both costs and space in a cramped one-bedroom attic flat, the couples decide to rent together for a year. But soon cracks in the paper-thin walls begin to appear: as increasingly limited space gradually encroaches on household relations, the couples are presented with yet more vexing choices, this time between relationships, friendships and the definitive goal of becoming their own landlords.
How far are they willing to go to protect the importance of becoming property owners in the capital? To what extent does inhabiting a claustrophobic environment reveal true personality traits? Where does friendship begin and end? These are the questions that Hartley explores by placing the tension between old friendships and desired status at the heart of the play. "Friends and money", says the playwright, "it’s a dangerous thing". Premiering in Hampstead Downstairs, Bruntwood Prize-winning playwright Matt Hartley's comedy follows his collaborative work Horizon at the National Theatre Studio, Soho Theatre's Microcosm and his Bruntwood Award winning drama Sixty Five Miles.
The London housing market on stage
Deposit's exploration of London’s stretched and claustrophobic property market, will resonate with all those wannabe property hunters after some metaphysical relief. Despite the median gross annual income of £27,000, the average property price is £400,000, according to figures released by the Office of National Statistics in 2014. It's a popular topic in theatre, with the ruthlessness of the property ladder thrown into 1984 extremes in Mike Bartlett's Game currently at the Almeida. Director Lisa Spirling, returning to Hampstead Downstairs after sell-out success with Fault Lines (2014) and I Know How I feel About Eve (2013), sums up Deposit as "an unrequited love affair with London."