Bonaventure

The action of the play Bonaventure is set in the Convent of Our Lady of Rheims, a French Nursing Home Order, at Denzil St.David, a village some miles from Norwich at the start of 1947. A flood in the fen country has trapped two prison officials and their prisoner, Sarat Carn, who is on her way to the gallows for the murder of her brother. But Sister Mary Bonaventure is convinced of her innocence and just before the police launch arrives, a confession is forced from the real murderer.

In the capable hands of director Edward Davies the play was well rehearsed and although the wordy script is more aligned to a radio play, scenes flowed well and at a reasonable pace. The script for the start of this play could be classed as easy going or relaxed and I did find the initial scenes of establishing characters and the story line a little slow to watch, whilst the action did pick up in the final scene.

The set for this production, designed and constructed by Alan Foster and team, was impressive and although the two large scene changes were completed over two intervals, with the first just after 30 minutes, I did feel that it was worth it. The impressive statue, fireplace, stained glass window, staircase along with period features and properties such as the tapestry were all excellent.

Carol Edwards gave an excellent performance as the tormented prisoner Sarat Carn whilst Kathy McEntagart gave a heart-warming performance as Sister Mary Bonaventure.

Jane Parkyn as the un-approving Mother Superior and Lisa Kane as Irish Sister Josephine also gave good performances in their supporting roles.

Willy Pentridge is a difficult and complex role to play as the autistic man who is employed to complete odd jobs but was handled sensitively by Alex Edwards.

Karen Brittle as Prisoner Officer Miss Pierce should be highlighted for her performance and the subtlety of her reactions to the conversations on stage around her was a delight to watch.

Well done to all the performers in tackling this interesting drama.

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