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Kiss of Death (2006)

Directed By
John Norris

Producer
Brenda Brooks
Production Type
Nomads Production

Production Location
Main Theatre


Genre: Thriller / Drama / Crime Turnout: 54%

User Rating: (4.5/5 with 4 votes)

Flier Summary:

by Simon Williams

Box Office Line: 01483 284747



Production Dates & Prices:
(Please note Booking Information)

 Date
Time
Price
 
 Wednesday 1st March 2006
8:00pm
£8.50
 Thursday 2nd March 2006
8:00pm
£8.50
 Friday 3rd March 2006
8:00pm
£8.50
 Saturday 4th March 2006
8:00pm
£8.50


Cast: (in programme order)
anna langridge ... Zoe Lang
Paul Le Blanc Smith ... Bernard
Wally Ross Gower ... George Brocklebank
Colin Wolrich ... John Smith

Crew: (in programme order)
John Norris ... Director
Brenda Brooks ... Producer
Elizabeth Cox ... ASM
Elizabeth Cross ... ASM
Nick Williams ... ASM
Rachel Greenaway ... ASM
Samantha Mallinson ... ASM
Charles Hope ... Lighting Operator
Tim Williams ... Video Editing
Tim Williams ... Sound Operator
Charles Hope ... Set Design
Charles Hope ... Set Construction
David Payne ... Set Construction
Ian Harwood ... Set Construction
Tom Thomas ... Set Construction
Francis Pindar ... Properties
Jill Evans ... Costume Design
Phillip Griffith ... Poster Design
Charles Hope ... Programme Design
Lauren Fantham ... Box Office
Clive Mott ... Front of House


Act1:
Scene 1 Science Lecture Room - morning
Scene 2 Science Lecture Room - 3 days later
Scene 3 Derelict flat
Act2:
Scene 1 Science Lecture Room - the following morning
Scene 2 Derelict flat - 40 minutes later
Scene 3 Science Lecture Room - the next day


Official Review:
Kiss of Death—the review
Kiss of Death is a modern dark thriller. Actress Zoe Lang attends an unusual improvisation workshop and finds herself auditioning as bait for serial killer “The Surgeon.” As young runaway Natasha Campion she meets sinister and manipulative John Smith, who makes her act out with him a disturbing scene he has scripted. There are many twists and turns as Zoe and the police team she is working for home in on their target – only to find that the target has never been that far away…

This well-written play showcased four first-rate actors. Brazen, mini-skirted, gum-chewing Zoe (Anna Langridge) could pout for England, but was haunted by childhood experiences, and we feared for her as she plunged deeper into danger. Wally Ross-Gower played Detective Superintendent George Brocklebank as the chain-smoking, whisky-swilling, rule-bending policeman of 70s television. There was always something distasteful about him, and learning that he was the Surgeon was, while a shock, not a surprise. There was an uncomfortable sleaziness in the way he fondled Zoe’s neck and touched her hair, which resonated when we learnt the truth.

Paul Leblanc Smith was detached criminal psychologist Bernard, working with Brocklebank, and his exchanges with Zoe provided some black humour. By the end they were allies in unveiling the Surgeon, and the transformation was very convincing. Colin Wolrich had less to do as John Smith, but was wonderfully sinister, until he softened when revealing to Zoe that this was only a training exercise (so he thought!).

Modern technology played such a large part it could have featured in the cast list. Zoe’s ‘audition’ was captured on video and displayed on three separate monitors. While her back was to the audience, we could see her head-on on the screens, acting out a tragic fantasy, and the technique was used effectively elsewhere in the play. Mobile phones also played their part. Generally we only heard one side of the conversation, imagining what was happening at the other end. But Zoe’s calls from sinister John Smith were on speakerphone so we could share her terror and distress as Smith revealed a suspicious knowledge of her past. Pulses quickened through the playing of tapes of Zoe’s experiences and those of a previous murder victim. And well-chosen music between scenes included a Jaws-like strings theme, raising the hairs on the back of the neck.

There were two stark sets – the sterile grey former lecture theatre and the bleak grimy room to which John Smith lured Zoe. Scene changes were clever but simple, the stage crew walking the room walls from one side of the stage to the other using the pivotal revolving stage. Altogether a chilling evening of dark, sardonic humour punctuating a mood of prevailing menace, superbly acted and directed.


Related News:
Feb 2006 BOX OFFICE: Kiss of Death, Sunday Film Classics
Jan 2006 Snow White BOX OFFICE!
Dec 2005 AUDITIONS: Kiss of Death


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