Dangerous Obsession

It’s rare to attend a serious play and want to shout from the audience, but this remarkable piece took you to the edge of your seat and left you there, desperately wanting to warn the characters of what only the audience could see. 

Dangerous Obsession is a beautifully written peach of a psychological drama which delivers rich, rounded characters, cavernous depth of story and twist after bewildering turn throughout. As a play with three characters, it places considerable demand on the director, set creator and the actors – and boy, did they deliver!

The Salterton Playhouse is a lovely theatre tucked into Budleigh and the atmosphere is very warm and welcoming. 

There was ambient music playing before the curtains opened to reveal the garden room and part of the garden of a late 70s/ early 80s suburban home. The set was brimming with detail -  there was a framed picture of the couple who live in the house and the dressing of the set transports you back to the days of music stack systems, lava lamps, rubber plants and drinks cabinets.  This worked all the better for the attention to the lighting – the terrace outside portrayed a hot sticky afternoon, the sun still high in the sky as the lady of the house moved in and out. 

Sally Driscoll is enjoying the sunshine and wanders into the conservatory and as she does we notice that she is observed by a businessman who is clearly aware the scrutiny is only one way. 

He succeeds in making her (and us) jump and he manages to persuade her (albeit reluctantly) to let him in the house. To add too much more detail to this would be to compromise the fabulous plot so I will move to the cast. The show is about Sally and Marc Driscoll in a life altering evening with a vague acquaintance, John Barrett. Sally is a bright, articulate and confidently glamourous woman, married to Marc living in their lovely home. She is clearly fond of a drink and is more than happy to drink alone. This character was utterly disarming and believable – you felt her pain and discomfort as the evening began to unravel and new cracks in the armour of the character emerged. She was played thoughtfully and authentically with great energy.

Her seemingly less complicated, insouciant husband Marc was again, thoroughly believable as a man, home from the office at the end of a busy week and not best impressed to be confronted by the presence of a vaguely familiar guest. It was a great performance and as the play progresses we learn more of Marc’s recent history, relentlessly replayed for us, and we begin to squirm with him.

And the protagonist – John Barratt, a quietly spoken, initially disarming, unfailingly courteous man – he was pretty terrifying and yet relatable.  This could definitely be called a challenging role – by the actor did a brilliant job, making easy work of this characterisation.

While the acting was utterly compelling, it’s my opinion that performances like this are simply arrived at without considerable vision communicated from the bigger picture and I felt that the Director had begun with a very clear vision of this show and worked exceptionally hard to mould cast and crew accordingly – what a show! Everything about this production show radiated hard work, enthusiasm, imagination and real team work – what a great job, guys!!!

Any observation made by the reviewer can only be based on what they see at the performance in question.  The reviewer may have received information in advance of the performance, and it is inevitable that their assessment will be affected by that knowledge.

The N.O.D.A. Representative’s intention is to give an objective critique of the overall production and in particular the performance viewed.  It should be remembered that any review of this nature can only be objective as far as the techniques used during the performance observed.  Any criticisms expressed may not have been valid at other performances and are only made to encourage higher standards in Amateur Theatre.

It is hoped that the audience’s appreciation of your efforts will have given everyone a lift and encouraged you to greater achievements in the future and that the observations made by the reviewer will prove helpful in improving future productions.

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