November 15, 2007
Anthony Horowitz has put his (and our) frank interest in deranged killers in the spotlight in this intriguing and amusing play. What makes sadistic serial murderers different from the rest of us, and why are we at once repelled and fascinated by them? He suggests some rather uncomfortable possibilities in this tricksy exploration of individual identity under assault by the cunning and determined manipulation of a psychotherapist in an asylum for the criminally insane.
Thither goes cocky young writer Styler to see if he can talk his way into interviewing a disgusting serial killer he wants to write a book about. But this is one of those plays where nothing is as it seems and no-one is who you think they are. Styler is successively deconstructed before our very eyes in a sequence of surprising and disturbing revelations. I don’t want to say too much about the plot as its constant succession of twists and turns is one of the delights of this production. Suffice it to say that if you liked Sleuth, or The Usual Suspects, you will like this.
The cast rotates the main parts, but last night Robert Hemmens was a convincingly vulnerable Styler, and Joseph Thomas a truly creepy and frightening Dr Farquhar, by turns dry authoritative bully and ironic commentator. Kathryn Brookes had rather more conviction as a nurse than as a victim, though her screaming was first rate. A word of warning - though Horowitz is best known s a children's writer for his series of books about teenage spy Alex Rider, don't bring any children to see this, as it contains scenes of rather horrid violence, which are much more upsetting when they're happening to people twelve feet away from you than they are on the TV.
Thither goes cocky young writer Styler to see if he can talk his way into interviewing a disgusting serial killer he wants to write a book about. But this is one of those plays where nothing is as it seems and no-one is who you think they are. Styler is successively deconstructed before our very eyes in a sequence of surprising and disturbing revelations. I don’t want to say too much about the plot as its constant succession of twists and turns is one of the delights of this production. Suffice it to say that if you liked Sleuth, or The Usual Suspects, you will like this.
The cast rotates the main parts, but last night Robert Hemmens was a convincingly vulnerable Styler, and Joseph Thomas a truly creepy and frightening Dr Farquhar, by turns dry authoritative bully and ironic commentator. Kathryn Brookes had rather more conviction as a nurse than as a victim, though her screaming was first rate. A word of warning - though Horowitz is best known s a children's writer for his series of books about teenage spy Alex Rider, don't bring any children to see this, as it contains scenes of rather horrid violence, which are much more upsetting when they're happening to people twelve feet away from you than they are on the TV.