Set in 1980s California, Jeffrey Sweet’s The Value of Names nonetheless touches on some interesting questions that resonate with a 21st century audience living in an era of cancel culture, where it’s often asked if we can – or indeed, should – separate an artist’s work from their political beliefs and activities. Following success in the USA, the play has its UK premiere at the White Bear in a quietly thought-provoking production directed by the writer, which relies heavily on the performances of its three actors.

Norma (Katherine Lyle) is an up and coming actor who’s landed a potentially career-defining role in a new play. But her excitement falters when the play’s director is taken ill and replaced by Leo (Tim Hardy), who testified some years earlier against Norma’s father Benny (Jeremy Kareken) to the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). As a result comic actor Benny ended up on the Hollywood blacklist, while Leo went on to have a successful career in the entertainment industry. When Leo pressures her to remain with the play, Norma must decide whether to stand by her father and withdraw, or secure her own future at the expense of their father-daughter relationship.

The dialogue-heavy production’s set is minimal; in the opening scene Norma fills in the gaps by explaining to the audience that we’re on the porch of her father’s beach house overlooking the Pacific, where Benny, now retired from acting, fills his days by painting the ocean view. The affectionate bickering that makes up most of the exchanges between Norma and Benny at first appears to offer light relief from some of the play’s more serious themes – but behind Benny’s wisecracking bravado lies a vulnerability and disappointment at his daughter’s failure to understand the depths of Leo’s betrayal. This vulnerability reaches its peak as Benny and Leo meet for the first time in years and in a lengthy scene, the two men try and fail to find common ground.

With such reliance on the dialogue to make its point, it’s important that the performances are strong, and for the most part, they are. Katherine Lyle is excellent throughout as Norma, backed into a corner and torn between her affection for her father and her ambition to succeed as an actor. Jeremy Kareken’s Benny is engaging and sympathetic, especially in the play’s closing scenes, and Tim Hardy is charming and soft-spoken as Leo, a man who’s clearly used to getting what he wants without needing to raise his voice – but he too has a fragility to him; while he claims to be unrepentant about his previous actions, his need to make peace with his old friend before it’s too late is palpable.

An understanding of 20th century American political history will help with navigating The Value of Names‘ often dense dialogue, but ultimately this is a play not about politics but about human relationships. By putting Norma’s dilemma at the heart of the play, Sweet asks the same question of the audience: do we stand behind Benny, who was one of the first to be “cancelled” for his political beliefs, or Leo, who opted to suppress his own views and keep creating art, even at the expense of his conscience and a close friendship? Ultimately, Norma will make her decision, but her choice is inevitably going to leave someone unsatisfied, and as such, while the play poses some interesting questions, in the end it answers none of them, instead leaving the audience to draw our own conclusions.

The Value of Names is at the White Bear Theatre until 1st March.