Venue: Tricycle theatre. Lovely cafe area which is communal to the building. I didn't particularly like the auitorium itself. Very cramped and had scaffolding poles as part of its structure which kind of got in the way at times.
Set: Extremely basic with just seating and a fireplace. Although easy to tour with, it was too basic for me.
Costumes: Amy's costumes verged on the indecent, the security style jumpers were amusing, all the other costumes were fine.
Plot: The plot revolves around a Neighbourhood Watch group. A brother and sister move into an estate of private houses, are instilled with irrational fear about the council estate at the bottom of the garden, and set up a neighbourhood watch group. They only attract a committee of six, but it grows and develops into a gated community, complete with a Punishment Committee, public stocks and a private army of thugs (dad and two sons) who they can’t control.
Performances: Dorothy (Eileen Battye) - Purely seemed to be there for comedy, nicely played though.
Rod (Terence Booth) - Very amusing early in the play, the part seemed to fade somewhat sadly.
Luther (Phil Cheadle) - Typical bad boy. A little cliched but still a strong portrayal.
Martin (Mathew Cottle) - Nicely played, but never came across as a home-wrecker (Which in reality he was), and I'm not sure I believed his ability to lead such a group.
Gareth (Richard Derrington) - Played as a stereotypical welshman. Funny on occassion but the whole character was a little unoriginal.
Amy (Frances Grey) - A real siren with legs that went on higher than I can see. Very sexy.
Magda (Amy Loughton) - An intelligent, vunerable and likeable performance.
Hilda (Alexandra Mathie) - A complex character with a delightful giggle and amusing little habbits. Showed a real strength as things progressed and had a few surprises up her sleave. Vry strong leading performance.
Summary: Well acted all round. My problem is that I never for one moment believed the storyline. I'm not sure if it was the basic set that did it as it never gave the impression of a house needing protection or just the plain silly direction that the story went in. I look forward to seeing what amateur groups do with this piece.
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