Review:
by Linda Kirkman
THE first half hour or so of this unusual darkish comedy has no spoken dialogue save for the occasional voice-over. Had I not, after a few minutes, elected to watch Act 1 on a screen in the Green Room the silence would have been punctuated by much coughing, but therein lies another story.
However, even from my somewhat disadvantaged position I could tell that this four-hander, well directed by Don Cherrett, had some cracking performances, and this was confirmed in the second act when I braved the auditorium once again.
Anthony Shaffer’s play centres round Norman Bartholomew (excellently played by Brian Woolton), who is obsessed by murder and is given to re-enacting famous killings with either his mistress, Millie (Louise Thomas) or his wife, Elizabeth (a superb Nicola King). However, once his nosey neighbour alerts the police, who arrive in the form of Sergeant Stenning (Noel Davenport), events begin to go out of Norman’s control.
Several of the play’s scenes take place in an upstairs bathroom, and many congratulations must go to the set designers and builders for creating something that was so realistic and effective, especially given the very small stage area. It worked a treat.
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