Dead Guilty

Dead Guilty a play staged by Wigan Little Theatre at Wigan Little Theatre, Wigan on Tuesday, 25th October 2022.

Dead Guilty is a tense psychological study of guilt and obsession penned by Richard Harris.  The story centres around an attractive young graphic artist called ‘Julia Darrow’ a passenger in a car driven by John Bennett, a work colleague and perhaps even more!  John has a heart attack at the wheel and dies!  Julia, recovering at home from her injuries finds herself housebound and becoming more and more depressed. Then, when things start to go missing from her home and then, Julia becomes even more troubled!  A kindly counsellor called ‘Anne’, tries to help Julia deal with her increasing depression and her suicidal thoughts and tendencies, whilst an overly friendly neighbour/handyman ‘Gary’ also tries to help by doing odd jobs around the house and running errands for her… what are his intentions?  She then arranges to meet Margaret, the excessively attentive widow of John, who slowly begins to manipulate Julia's life!  Julia is living with a ‘deep secret’ that she thinks only she knows, but as things start go from bad to worse and the suspense builds, there are so many questions to be answered and so many twists and turns to be navigated!

Production Team… Nicola Reynolds (Director) was the person tasked with leading us through the myriad of twists and turns before the actual truth comes to the fore!  Nicola had gathered a strong cast of four who, from the off, looked confident, assured, well-rehearsed and who were able to give their characters life… well done Nicola good job, be proud!

The Cast… for any small cast, in any production, it is essential that they can work together, and this was achieved from the start and throughout!  As is the ‘norm’ in my reviews… this is where I ‘stick my neck out’ and start identifying MY favourite character(s)!  It’s never easy with a small cast to start saying one was better than the other, especially when you can see that everyone on that stage had given of their best and that’s all you can ask really!  I think I’m justified in suggesting that this play contained…  ‘Two leading’ and ‘Two supporting’ roles… all four doing really well and creating believable characters that they all should be proud of!  But I think there were two leading contenders for my ‘Showstealer’ and it probably wasn’t until the last fifteen minutes of the play… that I finally made my decision!   My choice was between the ‘two leads’ … Charlotte Grundy who played ‘Julia Darrow’ our attractive young graphic designer, car crash victim and house bound invalid and Louise Steggals who played ‘Margaret Hadrell’ the attentive grieving widow of John and now ‘best friend’ to Julia’!  Both ladies were ‘perfect fits’ for these roles!  Both created totally believable characters with wonderful stage presence… their mannerisms, facial expressions were great and their voices, which they used ever so well to convey character, were impressive.  But as Act 2 neared its end, even though Charlotte upped her game it was Louise who took everything to a new level… her characterisation, her mannerisms, the visual aggression was ‘real’ and totally believable and that’s why my ‘show stealing’ performance ends up in the hands of Louise Steggals… be proud, both of you... the acting in that final scene, where the ‘truth emerges’ and ‘reality kicks in’ was unbelievably authentic… you both should be so proud of what you achieved… great performances!  Will Nelson took on the role of ‘Gary’, the ‘besotted’ neighbour and handyman.  Will, made this part his own.  Good characterisation, a well-judged performance be ever so proud Will, good job!   Sabrina Haynes took on the role of ‘Anne Bennett’ the likeable, kind counsellor, sent in to help Julia with her depression and suicidal thoughts.  Again, Sabrina was able to make this part her own. Good characterisation, which she stayed in throughout and worked ever so well with Charlotte.  Be proud Sabrina, good job!

Staging/Tech… as always here at Wigan Little Theatre the sets are ‘made to measure’ in house designs.  This was another great ‘one set’ play… the design of which afforded the cast every opportunity to produce great performances.  Entrances and exits well located and used ever so well.  So, its congrats to Nicola Reynolds (Set Design) John Gostelow, Phil Wood, Gary Hill, Kevin Fairhurst and Dave Lananagan (Set Construction); Christine Armstrong, Val Miller, Veronica Teesdale, Pat Ashurst and Ellen Fitton (Set Painting) well done folks be proud!  John Naughton (Stage Manager) and his Stage Crew… Ian Trimble, Anne Martin, Elaine Delaney, Calli Crook, David Statham and Kacey Makin did a good job as did the Tech Team consisting of Owen Rasburn, Rick Kershaw, Becky Hampson, Jacob Lathom and Neil Brogan. If I may and without wanting to cause offence or point fingers… even though we had a fabulous set and an experienced team looking after it, this play did have a major problem, which had nothing to do with cast or crew!  Because of the sheer number of small scenes and the continued use of ‘blackouts’ to complete those changes (some of which were to denote the passing of time), this did have an impact on the flow and as a result, we did lose a little continuity!  I’m not sure what could have been done to avoid or assist, but I’ve since read other reviews were this problem has been raised before!

Costumes… were apt and enhanced the show… these were under the watchful eye of Stacey Vernon and the cast.  Props… were of good quality and also enhanced the production. 

It was great to see so many in the theatre that evening and the applause at the end summed up what we’d all seen and enjoyed… congrats to all involved!

Thank you so much for inviting my wife and I, great production… we’re already looking forward to seeing you all in action again very soon… congrats again!

Stay safe and keep well…

Jim Briscoe
NODA NW
District 6 Rep

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