SNAKE IN THE GRASS. In rep to 7 September, then tour.
Scarborough/Tour
SNAKE IN THE GRASS
by Alan Ayckbourn
Stephen Joseph Theatre (The Round) In rep to 7 September 2002
Mon-Sat 13-19 June, 27 June-3 July, 18-24 July, 1-7, 15-21 & 29-31 August at 7.30pm.
Mats 22 June, 6 & 27 July, 10 & 24 August, 7 September at 2.30pm
Signed 16 August
Audio described 24 June, 27 June mat.
Runs 2hr One interval
TICKETS 01723 370541
Review Timothy Ramsden 5 June
Enough to make the skin creep, if not the mind work overtime.In a programme note for his spooky new thriller, Alan Ayckbourn defends popular genre drama against its critics. Murder and ghosts have always been present in European drama both feature in Hamlet, and that's had its share of critical support but we know what he means. It'll be interesting to see which makes it first to the Stephen Joseph stage Waiting for Godot or The Late Edwina Black.
Actually, it could be Arnold Ridley's old stand-by The Ghost Train, which has the same overall formula as Snake. It's tough for genre dramatists, largely dependent on plot,but there are a very limited number of story-lines known to human invention. So, the same fishy tales get plucked from the bowl for reworking - anyone familiar with Henri Clouzot's film Les Diaboliques will find resemblances here.
Which is probably as much as should be hinted. For it's the what's going-on, what'll-happen-next,-and-when? that powers such dramas' drive. And what makes a Hamlet, a Macbeth or, indeed, a Ghosts stand out is the way plot, enmeshed with language, develops characters' psychology in ways that deepen understanding of human nature and relationships.
What limits this new, at times undeniably gripping, play is the way plot and its accompanying theatrical frissons are put on hold while the character relationships principally between the Chester sisters are developed. Miriam has put up with father for years in the crumbling family home (always a bonus for chillers, which would have been much inconvenienced had mock-gothic architecture never happened) and Annabel, home to inherit his estate after 35 years in Tasmania, which have not intruded at all upon her dry, cut-glass English accent.
All is explained, the plot immaculately, the relationships satisfactorily enough (though the secretly abusive father's a bit over-used these days). All three women (the piece is a companion to Ayckbourn's three-handed male ghost story Haunting Julia) are strongly played. The main burden falls on Susie Blake, who mixes Miriam's vulnerable and sinister aspects perfectly, and shows again what a major, if undersung, treasure she is on the modern British stage.
Annabel Chester: Fiona Mollison
Alice Moody: Rachel Atkins
Miriam Chester: Susie Blake
Director: Alan Ayckbourn
Desighner: Roger Glossop
Lighting: Mick Hughes
Costume: Christine Wall
Music: John Pattison
Sponsor: Samuel French Ltd.
2002-06-10 01:04:26