Waters of the Moon: N C Hunter: to 7th February 2004
Waters of the Moon
by N C Hunter
Salisbury Playhouse, 22nd January 2004 to 7th February 2004
Mons-Weds; 7.30 pm; Thur Sat; 8.00 p.m.
29th and 31st January, 5th and 7th February at 2.30 pm; BSL interpreted performance 4th February; Audio description both perfs 5th February.
Runs 2 hours 40 minutes: One Interval
Tickets 01722 320333: http://www.salisburyplayhouse.com
Review Mark Courtice: 23rd January 2004
Waiting for change in well made play.
Hunter's 1951 play tells of the effect of the arrival of the glamorous Lancaster family on a snow-bound hotel on the edge of Dartmoor. They might mean a change for the better, but by the end the rich man is still in his castle and the poor man's at his gate, and the faded and fading residents still await their fate.
This is very much a "well made play". It shows its age with careful exposition (introduced to Mrs Whyte and Colonel Selby, the less respectful amongst us were beginning to expect a lead pipe in the library) and laborious construction. The characters, including the elderly widow not longer able to afford the servants and the big house that she has been used to, the consumptive young man (who only a few years later would throw off his weak chest with the help of penicillin), and the wretched Austrian refugee seem now to be very much part of a vanished world.
What is interesting is way the play is infused with a longing for change. We know now that with the sixties and with a rude blast of Jimmy Porter's trumpet, both society and the theatre got the change they sought.
This production is detailed and thoughtful. The tone throughout is genuine, and mostly spot on. Nancy Surman's set with its broken pediments and overgrown classicism helps a lot, cleverly suggesting the restrictions of a claustrophobic atmosphere where the prospect of lunch counts as excitement. Accurate costumes reflect the grey days that spawned them, and the red theme of the Lancasters works well being both jolly and vaguely threatening.
The play hinges on two socking great star turns for women and they are in capable hands here. Isla Blair cleverly makes Mrs Lancaster utterly charming and utterly ruthless, while we end up caring for Irene Sutcliffe's Mrs Whyte; a complicated and subtle performance, icy on the surface but with depths.
As the younger couple whose future might stretch beyond the confines of national borders, the generations and outmoded social models Jamie Newall and Susie Trayling were genuine and affecting.
John Daly: Will Adamsdale
Evelyn Daly: Susie Trayling
Mrs Whyte: Irene Sutcliffe
Colonel Selby: Christopher Benjamin
Mrs Daly: Sara Coward
Mrs Ashworth: Katharine Barker
Julius Winterhalter: Jamie Newall
Helen Lancaster: Isla Blair
Tonetta Landi: Jasmine Hyde
Robert Lancaster: Alan Perrin
Director: Joanna Read
Designer: Nancy Surman
Lighting Designer: Peter Hunter
Sound Designer: Gina Hills
2004-02-02 18:03:42