Deadly Nightcap
Information
- Date
- 7th April 2022
- Society
- Little Theatre Donnington
- Venue
- The Little Theatre, Donnington
- Type of Production
- Drama
- Director
- Lynne James
- Stage Manager
- Jessie May Bracken
- Written By
- Francis Durbridge
Deadly Nightcap written by Francis Durbridge in 1983 is the story of Jack Radford who plots to murder his wife Sarah with the help of Anna Truman (his mistress played by Eleanor Conway) but the plan goes horribly wrong when a body is discovered by the swimming pool. There are several suspects who all have a motive for murder and the play is full of twists, turns and red herrings, which keeps the audience guessing right to the end.
The pre-set was lit dramatically in red with a single armchair and small dresser complete with a nightcap. There was a good choice of music to set the start and finish of each of the acts and once the curtains opened we were greeted with a box set of the comfortable living room of the Radford’s home. Through the French doors situated at the back of the set we could see a conservatory projected on to the back wall, which gave the staging great depth and perspective.
Centre to the plot were the owners of the house Sarah and Jack Radford played by Kay Briton and Dave Whyte. Kay Briton had the major role and was the linchpin of this drama, mood swings, character changes due to her health issues and her relationship with other characters was performed well. Dave Whyte was the devious businessman who had everything but wanted more, he had a good control of character, clear diction and he became more unlikeable as a character with his overt threats and oily sociability as the evenings events unfolded.
The Housekeeper (Lucy Baker played by Carol Robertson) provided the story with the stability and humour to offset the drama. Carol is a great character actress and maintained her accent and characterisation throughout.
Maggie Stanworth as TV cook Kate Warren gave us a relaxed and reassuring performance and certainly added to the plot appearing at times to be the guilty party.
Simon Whitehouse as Edward Donnington appeared briefly but played an important part in setting up the initial storyline of the play.
There was good characterisation provided by Andy Reed as Dr Maurice Young, Mike Rawlings as Geoffrey Curtis and Sue Rawlings as Susan Boston.
Cliff Jordan played by Simon Phillips is an unusual character, part police, part author and part love interest to Sarah. Simon is no stranger to playing this type of role and gave us a solid and well rounded performance.
All aspects were provided for a good night out, the welcome upon arrival, the interval refreshments, the comfort of the auditorium all combined with a thrilling and enjoyable play.
© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.