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Stars explained: * A production of no real merit
with failings in all areas. ** A production showing evidence of not
enough time or effort, or even talent, and which never breathes any real
life into the piece – or a show lumbered with a terrible script. *** A
good enjoyable show which might have some small flaws but has largely
achieved what it set out to do.**** An excellent show which shows a
great deal of work and stage craft with no noticeable or major
flaws.***** A four star show which has found that extra bit of magic
which lifts theatre to another plane. |
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Duo shine amid the dark menace Gaslight Swan Theatre Amateur Company Swan Theatre, Worcester ***** TWO bravura performances
dominate Brian J Burton's fine production – as, indeed, they have to if
Patrick Hamilton's classic thriller is to yield the tingling spines and
the anxious expectation that the script expects of its audiences. The story is of two minds –
those of husband and wife – locked in battle. Not that it is a very even
contest: he is tall, confident, domineering; she is terrified, anxious
to please and not in fact looking for any kind of conflict. It is on
their relationship that the credibility of the play depends. John Horton is the husband,
Manningham – fleetingly kind, only to shatter his wife's hopes as he
furthers his scheme to drive her mad. He exploits dramatic differences
in his delivery, ranging from towering rage to whispers that carry their
own kind of alarm, as when he says, “The time has come to face facts.”
He speaks with a controlled authority, almost staccato, punching out his
sentences as if to defy anyone to stand up to them. When he is left
alone in the sitting room, he paces with unhurried strides of measured
and ominous authority.
In the context of a
situation in which he is able to give full rein to his intermittent and
frighteningly predictable fury, he presents an awesome prospect and it
is one against which his naturally submissive wife (Sue Smith) does not
have a hope of winning. She offers barely a glimmer of resistance in a
fine account of total despair which is deepened by the ritual
humiliation she suffers in front of a servant. This is a splendid
pairing, never for a moment giving cause to suspect that either of its
constituent parts might ever falter in fulfilling the weighty
responsibilities that surround them. But while these two are the
linchpins of the production, Ian Mason provides vital, substantial and
unwavering support as the police inspector who arrives to reveal the
reason for Manningham's frequent and unexplained disappearances and the
cause of the uncertain efficiency of the gaslights in the beautifully
appointed sitting room – full marks here to Brian J Burton and Andy
Hares. Here we have an inspector totally on top of a role which becomes
alarmingly wordy – though there is possibly cause for fleeting anxiety
during his confrontation with Manningham, given the significant
difference in their stature. We suspect that the hero who has turned up
as a knight in shining armour might find himself in some enduring
difficulty at crisis point. From the servants' quarters – this is a play whose Victorian setting has been updated to Edwardian – come Amber Bluck as the pert, coquettish maid, and Elizabeth Whitehouse as the anxious, loyal housekeeper. They provide the final touches that the production so demonstrably deserves. To 20.2.10 John Slim |
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