• Production News, Reviews

    Posted on September 6th, 2010

    Written by Charles

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    Rope is an ambitious play to put on as it stretches even the most accomplished actor. Director Laurence Armitage and his dedicated cast rose to the challenge and gave it their all.
    The original play was written in 1929 and set in that period but this production saw it in a present day setting. Nonetheless, changing reference to modern day people, tweaking the text and using mobile phones was not enough and still felt not of our time.
    A very dark play exploring the themes of murder and excitement-at-any-price, there was a constant tension on-stage . The production was in the theatre’s studio with the action literally performed within feet of - the audience, the actors making good use of the limited stage. The set was realistic as were the costumes, . Stuart Tomkins who played Brandon the main protagonist, gave a strong and well-considered performance. The scene
    where he finally breaks and admits his crime was well executed (excuse the pun). His weak-minded friend Charles portrayed by Nathan Farrell had good facial expressions and played the awkwardness of his part well. His
    descent into alcohol-induced paranoia was most convincing. Fay Docherty‘s portrayal of Leila showed a well-modulated voice and stage presence beyond her years. As her ex-boyfriend Ken, Matt Kalorkoti played his part well, if slightly understated. I did feel though that he laboured some of his monologues but Steve Rowland as Rupert, the men’s old teacher, nonethless gave a convincing, intelligent and over-all fine performance. Colin Clyde was Sir Johnstone, his concern and upset for his missing son well acted,. He had a stage presence that supported his part. Liz Cross was most amusing as Mrs Debenham and portrayed the characters’ confusion well. Annabelle Farrell was convincing as the cleaner/maid, a staple character of plays of this period.
    Congratulations should go to all involved in this production.

    Oliver Cownden


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    This entry was posted on Monday, September 6th, 2010 at 6:29 pm and is filed under Production News, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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