The Lamplighters
The Tabard Theatre
Reviewed on Thursday 21st March 2013 (Press Night)
This brand new play is a well-paced and engaging supernatural murder mystery, which looks at how three middle-aged men deal with an unresolved past.
The plot focuses on three ex-coppers who have reconvened to commemorate the ten year anniversary of a brutal, local triple murder, a case that they had worked on together but was never satisfactorily solved. During the evening, with the help of two strangers, they discover the truth of what really happened that night.
The cast delivers the play convincingly. Mark Forester-Evans gives an endearingly naturalistic performance of a man who tries to hide from the past and the present in the solace of alcohol. Stewart Marquis plays the fair but firm ringleader whose physical portrayal of a stroke patient is impressive. Performance of the night goes to the young Scott Oswald who simultaneously inspires fear and pity with his playful portrayal of Billy Tuttle.
The set is excellent; the interior is instantly recognisable as a farmhouse kitchen which has seen cleaner days. It would have been nice, perhaps, to see water running through the oft-used taps. The atmospheric lighting also works well, as does the sound design, which is only occasionally betrayed by the obvious loop in the wind recording.
Although the piece does touch on a couple of topical issues (press infringement of privacy, police accountability), it is refreshing to see a new play of this genre in London: a work that has no real social comment, but that whisks you away into a whole different world of hazy memory and doubt.
Reviewed by Ted McMillan
The Lamplighters runs at the Tabard Theatre until 13th April 2013.
Please visit www.tabardtheatre.co.uk for further information and to book tickets.
Click here to read our recent interview with Glenn Chandler who wrote The Lamplighters.
2nd Photo Credit: Derek Drescher
2nd Photo Credit: Derek Drescher
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The play was so gripping the reviewer's most substantive comments are about the set and the absence of flowing water throuygh taps. Hilarious
ReplyDeleteQuite frankly I was disappointed at the lack of imagination that went into the ending of the play.
ReplyDelete