REVIEW
Middle Ground Theatre Company Ltd presents
GALLOWGLASS BY RUTH RENDELL (writing as Barbara Vine)
Palace Theatre, Westcliff on Sea
24-28 April 2018
Middle Ground Theatre Company Ltd presents
GALLOWGLASS BY RUTH RENDELL (writing as Barbara Vine)
Palace Theatre, Westcliff on Sea
24-28 April 2018
Kidnap can be a dangerous game - Gallowglass
If you like psychological thrillers then you will enjoy the Middle Ground Theatre Company’s performance of Gallowglass on at the Palace Theatre this week. The play, adapted by Margaret May Hobbs, is based on a novel by Ruth Rendell in the darker guise of Barbara Vine.
You can’t beat a well-written, well-acted crime drama and this production certainly ticks the box with a cast of well-known TV faces.
Five years ago, Nina was kidnapped in Italy and successfully held to ransom. Now, two rich husbands later, she is a virtual prisoner in her marital stately home. Paul Garnett (Paul Opacic) is hired as a live-in driver, to protect her. The inevitable happens as they fall for each other. Meanwhile, one of the ex-kidnappers Sandor Wincanton (Joe Eyre) is plotting to do it again.
One day Sandor saves the life of a suicidal Joe, nicely played by Dean Smith. He is a young man with special needs, and is roped into the plot together with Joe’s foster sister Tilly (Rachael Hart). Hart played the character brilliantly, as a lively, over the top, brash tart and she provided some humorous moments throughout the production. However, I am not sure they were intended, as she seems to be a character from a different play. Smith has a tough role to play, but he shows Joe’s vulnerability and naive charm, desperately dependent on the psychopathic Sandor. There was a nicely played scene when another needy character of the overbearing mother (Karen Drury) arrived, and promptly hit the bottle. Queen of Brookside, Drury stole the scene and it was a shame that she only had such a small part.
The evening began when a casually dressed, young man walked onto the stage whilst the house lights were still on. He stood there for several minutes whilst the audience wondered if he’d come in by accident. However, after a while the lights went down and everyone realised he was on a station platform waiting for a train. Although I wasn’t sure why we had the sound of the Jacques Brel song, Sons Of, playing in the background.
You can’t beat a well-written, well-acted crime drama and this production certainly ticks the box with a cast of well-known TV faces.
Five years ago, Nina was kidnapped in Italy and successfully held to ransom. Now, two rich husbands later, she is a virtual prisoner in her marital stately home. Paul Garnett (Paul Opacic) is hired as a live-in driver, to protect her. The inevitable happens as they fall for each other. Meanwhile, one of the ex-kidnappers Sandor Wincanton (Joe Eyre) is plotting to do it again.
One day Sandor saves the life of a suicidal Joe, nicely played by Dean Smith. He is a young man with special needs, and is roped into the plot together with Joe’s foster sister Tilly (Rachael Hart). Hart played the character brilliantly, as a lively, over the top, brash tart and she provided some humorous moments throughout the production. However, I am not sure they were intended, as she seems to be a character from a different play. Smith has a tough role to play, but he shows Joe’s vulnerability and naive charm, desperately dependent on the psychopathic Sandor. There was a nicely played scene when another needy character of the overbearing mother (Karen Drury) arrived, and promptly hit the bottle. Queen of Brookside, Drury stole the scene and it was a shame that she only had such a small part.
The evening began when a casually dressed, young man walked onto the stage whilst the house lights were still on. He stood there for several minutes whilst the audience wondered if he’d come in by accident. However, after a while the lights went down and everyone realised he was on a station platform waiting for a train. Although I wasn’t sure why we had the sound of the Jacques Brel song, Sons Of, playing in the background.
This stage adaptation has difficulties because various locations change between scenes. To overcome this obstacle, the set was effectively orchestrated by the designer/director Michael Lunney’s use of a split stage with two sets at the same time. In order to facilitate other scene changes, there was the use of gauze and projections, which worked very well for the exteriors. There was also the addition of a camper van and a very luxurious hotel room with a four-poster bed. Additionally, the realistic sound effects that occasionally startled the audience out of their seats were very slickly done.
This production had a cast of strong actors and the main relationship between Sandor and Joe builds into the Gallowglass connection of master and servant. This development of the abusive relationship evolved very realistically. Paul Opacic also handled some of the dramatic scenes particularly well, especially when his daughter was kidnapped. I’m not sure that the changing relationship between Nina and Paul was as believable, as the professions of love came without any real build up. The father daughter relationship of Garnett and Jessica (Eva Sayer) worked well, although I am not sure that we believed that the actress playing her was eleven years old.
Due to the nature of the piece and the original source material, it was necessary for Sandor to explain all the events that preceded the current situation. As a result, the first half was rather slow and the audience had to listen intently. However, everything speeded up in the second half when there was more action.
This production had a cast of strong actors and the main relationship between Sandor and Joe builds into the Gallowglass connection of master and servant. This development of the abusive relationship evolved very realistically. Paul Opacic also handled some of the dramatic scenes particularly well, especially when his daughter was kidnapped. I’m not sure that the changing relationship between Nina and Paul was as believable, as the professions of love came without any real build up. The father daughter relationship of Garnett and Jessica (Eva Sayer) worked well, although I am not sure that we believed that the actress playing her was eleven years old.
Due to the nature of the piece and the original source material, it was necessary for Sandor to explain all the events that preceded the current situation. As a result, the first half was rather slow and the audience had to listen intently. However, everything speeded up in the second half when there was more action.
There were a couple of surprise turns that shocked the audience, but there were also a couple of twists that didn’t add up. When the denouement came, it wasn’t believable, bearing in mind that there had been no indication from the characters that things were heading that way. Particularly when we were informed of events off stage by a newscaster, (spoiler alert) involving one character that hardly appeared through the play.
It was an engrossing evening, with some strong performances, side plots, and twists. The lovers of psychological thrillers will definitely enjoy this production of Gallowglass.
Review Jacquee Storozynski-Toll
It was an engrossing evening, with some strong performances, side plots, and twists. The lovers of psychological thrillers will definitely enjoy this production of Gallowglass.
Review Jacquee Storozynski-Toll
The play continues until Saturday at the Palace Theatre, Westcliff
Tues 24th – Sat 28th April at 8pm with a Saturday matinee at 2.30pm
Tickets online or the Box Office 01702 351135
https://southendtheatres.org.uk//Online/tickets-gallowglass-southend-2018
The tour ends:-
Tues 1st – Sat 5th May – Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury
http://www.middlegroundtheatre.co.uk
Tues 24th – Sat 28th April at 8pm with a Saturday matinee at 2.30pm
Tickets online or the Box Office 01702 351135
https://southendtheatres.org.uk//Online/tickets-gallowglass-southend-2018
The tour ends:-
Tues 1st – Sat 5th May – Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury
http://www.middlegroundtheatre.co.uk
Ask the Audience
Rosie – Westcliff
The first half was very dark, but I enjoyed the second half when everything livened up. The characters were well acted. The play took a bit of fathoming, as everyone in it seemed disturbed.
James - Rayleigh
I enjoyed it and didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t see the twists coming and it was very good. I thought the chap playing Sandor was trying a bit too hard to be dark and dangerous.
Rosie – Westcliff
The first half was very dark, but I enjoyed the second half when everything livened up. The characters were well acted. The play took a bit of fathoming, as everyone in it seemed disturbed.
James - Rayleigh
I enjoyed it and didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t see the twists coming and it was very good. I thought the chap playing Sandor was trying a bit too hard to be dark and dangerous.
GALLOWGLASS
Starring PAUL OPACIC, RICHARD WALSH, KAREN DRURY, DEAN SMITH, FLORENCE CADY, RACHAEL HART, EVA SAYER, MATTHEW WELLMAN, JOG MAHER and JOE EYRE
Starring PAUL OPACIC, RICHARD WALSH, KAREN DRURY, DEAN SMITH, FLORENCE CADY, RACHAEL HART, EVA SAYER, MATTHEW WELLMAN, JOG MAHER and JOE EYRE
A world stage premiere from the pen of one of the world's greatest thriller writers.
When Sandor snatched Little Joe from the path of a London tube train, he was quick to make clear the terms of the rescue. "I saved your life", he told the homeless youngster, "so your life belongs to me now".
Sandor began to tell him a fairy tale: an ageing prince, a kidnapped princess, a missed rendezvous... But what did this mysterious story have to do with Sandor? Joe only understood his own role - he was a Gallowglass, the servant of a chief...
Starring Paul Opacic (Bad Girls/Emmerdale/Hollyoaks), Richard Walsh (London's Burning), Karen Drury (Brookside), Dean Smith (Last Tango in Halifax/Waterloo Road), Florence Cady (Crucible of the Vampire), Rachael Hart (Apple Tree House), Eva Sayer (The Turn Of The Screw) and introducing Joe Eyre as Sandor, this classy thriller is brought to you by Middle Ground Theatre Company, whose recent productions include Classic Ghosts, The Verdict and A Murder Is Announced.
When Sandor snatched Little Joe from the path of a London tube train, he was quick to make clear the terms of the rescue. "I saved your life", he told the homeless youngster, "so your life belongs to me now".
Sandor began to tell him a fairy tale: an ageing prince, a kidnapped princess, a missed rendezvous... But what did this mysterious story have to do with Sandor? Joe only understood his own role - he was a Gallowglass, the servant of a chief...
Starring Paul Opacic (Bad Girls/Emmerdale/Hollyoaks), Richard Walsh (London's Burning), Karen Drury (Brookside), Dean Smith (Last Tango in Halifax/Waterloo Road), Florence Cady (Crucible of the Vampire), Rachael Hart (Apple Tree House), Eva Sayer (The Turn Of The Screw) and introducing Joe Eyre as Sandor, this classy thriller is brought to you by Middle Ground Theatre Company, whose recent productions include Classic Ghosts, The Verdict and A Murder Is Announced.
Praise for the novel GALLOWGLASS
"Marvellously gripping....tense, compulsive and beautifully written" Sunday Express
"Gallowglass is RUTH RENDELL (Barbara Vine) at her best....it is compulsive reading; an unsettling narrative that casts eerie shadows into the unknown" Woman's Journal
Tickets online at www.southendtheatres.org.uk or call box office on 01702 351135
"Marvellously gripping....tense, compulsive and beautifully written" Sunday Express
"Gallowglass is RUTH RENDELL (Barbara Vine) at her best....it is compulsive reading; an unsettling narrative that casts eerie shadows into the unknown" Woman's Journal
Tickets online at www.southendtheatres.org.uk or call box office on 01702 351135