SUDDENLY AT HOME To 22 August.
Nottingham
SUDDENLY AT HOME
by Francis Durbridge.
Theatre Royal Yo 22 August 2009.
Mon-Fri 7.30pm Sat 8pm Mat Wed 2pm Sat 5pm.
Runs 2hr 10min One interval.
TICKETS: 0115 989 5555.
www.royalcentre-nottingham.co.uk.
Review: Alan Geary: 17 August 2009.
An avaricious would-be wife killer; but will he get away with it?
This is a must-see for Nottingham’s Thriller Season devotees. Officially the second of four on offer this summer, it’s the first proper thriller insofar as we welcome back our old friends the sofa centre stage and that well-used drinks supply, as always upstage-right.
The baddest of bad eggs, Glen Howard, (beautifully played by Jeremy Lloyd Thomas) who’s an avaricious would-be wife killer, keeps resorting to the drinks. And who can blame him? Throughout the play he’s beset by doorbells and telephones ringing unexpectedly, and women placing demands on him.
This isn’t really a whodunit: it’s more of a will-he-get-away-with-it; and a lot of the time you hope he does. Some seriously good background music, including Stravinsky, is used to heighten the suspense.
Glen’s wife, Maggie, is played by Jo Castleton so it’s not psychologically plausible that he wants her dead. Not only is Maggie already putting Daddy’s dosh in his direction; she looks wonderful in dresses; she gets to wear a fetching purple number with a non-PC fur coat - it’s the seventies. And Karen Henson, besides being very good as her canny sister Helen, is splendid in a red dress: someone says she could be off “the front cover of Vogue”.
The seventies period isn’t overdone. Director Adrian Lloyd-James wisely keeps the checks in check. And Geoff Gilder’s set, complete with a Breughel on the wall, is a pleasure.
All the actors are on form: John Hester gets to play his unsettlingly snoopy Inspector, which he always does well. Patric Kearns, who’s very good at getting a laugh without pulling a play too far in the wrong direction, is also a detective, the loud and outlandishly amusing Remick plodding about the place - since this is Durbridge, it’s a very acceptable West End flat. Sarah Wynne Kordas is the vaguely Flemish maid Ruth, and Samantha Sanns is back as Sheila Wallis, the actress friend.
A lot of thriller buffs think this is Durbridge’s best and they might well be right.
Maggie Howard: Jo Castleton.
Helen Tenby: Karen Henson.
Ruth Bechler: Sarah Wynne Kordas.
Sam Blaine: Samuel Clemens.
Sheila Wallis: Samantha Sanns.
Glen Howard: Jeremy Lloyd-Thomas.
Appleton: John Hester.
Remick: Patric Kearns.
Director: Adrian Lloyd-James.
Designer: Geoff Gilder.
Lighting: Michael Donohugh.
Sound: Patric Kearns, Adrian Lloyd-James.
2009-08-20 09:22:09