THE LATE EDWINA BLACK To 5 September.
Nottingham.
THE LATE EDWINA BLACK
by William Dinner and William Morum.
Theatre Royal To 5 September 2009.
Mon-Fri 7.30pm Sat 8pm Mat Wed 2pm Sat 5pm.
Runs 2hr 5min One interval.
TICKETS: 0115 989 5555.
www.royalcentre-nottingham.co.uk
Review: Alan Geary: 31 August.
Rewarding whodunnit with more than a dash of who dun what.
Colin McIntyre and Co leave Nottingham on a high again this year. The Late Edwina Black, the last play of the Classic Thriller Season, is of course basically a whodunnit but there’s an extra element insofar as you’re sometimes wondering dun what.
This is 1895, so the outstanding Geoff Gilder set and costumes are oppressively late-Victorian. The heavy furnishings look as if they’re trying to hide some sweaty villainy under their respectability. And the thick, black dresses make any female look like a potential killer - think Lizzie Borden and her axe.
As proceedings open the household is preparing for Edwina Black’s funeral. But, although Edwina’s supposed to be dead, she’s a fifth character in the play: her presence pervades the thing. You can hear her banging about upstairs with a stick, and just before the interval, you see what looks like her shadow on the wall.
The official four characters are well done. The not so grieving widower Gregory Black - shiny grin and amazingly black hair, eyebrows and shoes - is played by Patric Kearns; the late Edwina’s companion, Elizabeth Graham, suspiciously attractive, is an excellent Jo Castleton. Kearns and Castleton are particularly good when their relationship is strained to breaking point because of criss-crossing suspicious.
An assertive housekeeper, Ellen, is played with a pleasing comic touch by Maggie Stables - Stables is always excellent in these parts. The snoopy and insinuating Inspector Martin down from the Yard is, of course, John Hester. He’s a rounded character, with a wife, an obsession with tea, and rheumatism whenever there’s an easterly blowing. But even though he shows his card you wonder whether he’s all he’s supposed to be.
Appropriately enough, the background music this week is from Schubert’s Death and the Maiden.
At many levels it’s been a deeply rewarding Thriller Season.
Ellen: Maggie Stables.
Elizabeth Graham: Jo Castleton.
Henry Martin: John Hester.
Gregory Black: Patric Kearns.
Director: Adrian Lloyd-James.
Designer: Geoff Gilder.
Lighting: Michael Donoghue.
Sound: Patric Kearns, Adrian Lloyd-James.
2009-09-03 00:34:12