Date seen: 25/2/12
Venue: Traditional style theatre with a nice bar area and plenty of leg room. The stage is quite high meaning you have to look up a bit.
Set: Reasonably good although it was all so far upstage. Bringing it down stage could have engaged the audience even more and enveloped them into the tense chillness of the story.
Costumes: Standard jacket and ties for all three characters. I feel that Ken should be dressed in a slightly less conventional manner. This attire just made him seem a bit ordinary.
Plot: Julia Lukin was a musical prodigy who committed suicide 12 years earlier. Her father Joe has never come to terms with her death and in the Julia Larkin Centre For Performing Studies, he hopes to discover what happened by meeting with a psychic, Ken, and Julia’s boyfriend, Andy, who was the last person to see her alive.
Performances:
Joe (John Hester) - Had the perfect look and voice and was strong to begin with. I felt his character faded somewhat and I would have liked to have seen some more of his overbearing nature explored.
Andy (Chris Sheridan) - Terrific. You really sa a change in the character as the situation tormented him more and more. His long speeches were brilliantly delivered. A thoroughly enjoyable perfomance.
Ken (John Goodrum) - Didn't do it for me at all. He seemed way too normal, where as I think you should be slightly uneasy watching and listening to him. I feel this is a really complex character and yet it was played in such a one dimensional way.
Summary: An enjoyable show although I've seen it done better. The teddy on th bed moment was a huge disappointment - It ought to make the audience jump out of their skin! The effects at the end were okay but there could hve been so much more with collapsing bookcases etc. The bed sheet was very nicely done though. I love the character of Ken that Ayckbourn has created and I was deeply disappointed with his portrayal. Always an interesting show to go and watch though.
