Archives - April 1989
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Archives - April 1989 |
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Produced by Mary Frost
THE PLAY
Modern-day thriller, set in a city townhouse. Insomniac heiress Elaine is convinced she saw a dead body in the abandoned tenement opposite, but the police can find nothing. Husband John and best friend Blanche suspect that Elaine is having a breakdown, based on memories of her first husband - who died in a car crash with his mistress beside him. When Elaine insists that the very live delicatessen owner from over the road is the dead man she saw, they call in a psychiatrist.
While Elaine is being treated, John and Blanche carry
on with their affair and plans to leave but Elaine sees a second body, that of a
woman, in the opposite building and hysterically calls the police. They again
find no traces and instruct her not to call again or risk being charged for
wasting their time. John and Blanche use the second episode as a reason to
arrange for Elaine to be transferred to a Swiss clinic.
Before Elaine can leave, though, she confronts them both and accuses them of
trying to drive her mad. Both deny it, but Elaine runs out, over to the tenement
building and they chase after her. There are gunshots and Elaine returns alone,
phones the police and explains that she set up the whole thing, pretended
someone was trying to drive her mad and that there are now two bodies in the
boarded-up building that she actually owns: bodies of the people who betrayed
her. The police of course, do not believe her and will not be checking again...
FROM THE GROUP
After having produced two comedies I thought I would try my hand at something of
a more serious nature. I chose Night Watch for my next production. This was a
thriller originally set in New York but I decided it would present less
difficulties if we transposed the setting to London. The Docklands area was at
this time just beginning to be developed and going 'Upmarket', so it was an
ideal location for this play with it's mix of luxury and seediness.
The plot on reflection was a little hackneyed, involving a husband trying to
drive his wife to suicide so that he could run off with her money and his
mistress. Nevertheless, the characters were strong and required good acting to
make them appear credible. Consequently, rehearsals were more intense than my
previous ventures.
Although the press report for this play was critical of the deficiencies of the
plot I was quite pleased with the overall effect and tense atmosphere we
created.
Mary - Producer
PREVIEWS & REVIEWS
Preview from the Worthing Herald, March/April 1989
Review from the Worthing Herald, 14th April 1989
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