Mixed Messages

A triple bill of two short and one hour-long new plays by local writers under the aegis of the Playhouse provided a varied and enjoyable though at times sombre evening. There were some polished performances from the pro/am casts and audiences were apprecative. It's to be hoped that this event is repeated in future years and that the plays will get a wider airing than this short local run.

Lucy (Unverified), 17/09/06

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I was aware that this production would consist of three plays from new writers and I had made the assumption that new writing should somehow necessitate freshness and originality. I was right - but only to a certain extent.

"I Can't Stand The Sight Of His Face And He Can't Stand The Sound Of Me Breathing" (snappy title huh!?) started off promisingly enough but gradually lost its steam. Both actors used masks in order to depict older versions of their characters to varying effect. Jenny Stickland was a powerful and dynamic presence onstage which was initially well contrasted by Gary Thompson's subdued performance, however, as things progressed it became clear that despite some good dialogue one of the couple had neither mentally and emotionally allowed his script to fully sink in.

"Tea Dance" is a potentially powerful play, but sadly, it was performed to only half of its full effect as a result of some bad technical decisions and melodramatic performances steeped in self indulgence. Janie Eyre Brook and John Bateman may very well be fantastic actors for all I know but it would've been nice if the director could've coaxed slightly more naturalistic performances from them. Despite all of this, "Tea Dance" was not without its charm and fully convinced at certain points as a result of its strong central concept.

"Secrets" began strongly. Each character was introduced and then gradually defined by the secrets each one was keeping. The actors were mainly very good, with stand out performances from Heather Rome (Sybil) and a magnificently restrained Gina Rowland (Elsa) stealing the show between them. Soon, however, even this plummeted into a painfully slow and self indulgent trawl through some brave subjects which deserve more artistic finesse than was on display. By the end, the play became too much like hard work.

Mixed Messages is an aptly titled show that will provoke similarly mixed reactions. I doubt, however, that many will be very positive.

Lee Woodward (DI Reviewer), 17/09/06

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