Night Watch

I have to confess that in all my local theatre visits, I have never watched a production in Stafford Gatehouse’s MET Studio, so this was a new experience for me and one which I thoroughly enjoyed.

The cleverly designed open stage set provided the first glimpse of privileged life in a 1970’s New York townhouse, elegantly furnished and carpeted and with white panelled French doors centre back and a large panelled window down left. An added touch of class were the three paintings on the wall, two of which we hear later from Patrolman Vanelli are a Picasso and a Modigliani! A further clever touch was the TV set showing a US documentary until the play started which added greatly to the atmosphere especially with the classic ‘Blue Moon’ included in the soundtrack.

As the house lights fade and the play begins, a much-agitated Elaine Wheeler is busying herself around the room. Elaine is affected with lifelong insomnia and her husband John is trying his best to calm her. As he briefly leaves the room, Elaine, who is now peering through the downstage window, lets out a blood-curdling scream as she believes she has seen a dead man sitting in a green chair through the window of the property opposite. Elaine begs John to call the police but when they finally arrive and investigate the sighting, all they find is an empty chair and no evidence of anyone else in the otherwise deserted and empty building. John is clearly sympathetic to Ellie’s distress and is convinced that she is seeing things, but later in the piece when she spots another body in the same room as the first, both John and Elaine’s best friend Blanche, who is staying with them, have second thoughts.

And so the scene is set for this intriguing thriller which has you scratching your head to fathom out the truth of what is being said and seen at every twist and turn. For certain, someone within Elaine’s family or close circle of friends is deliberately trying to drive her insane but in this very well constructed murder mystery by author, Lucille Fletcher, the final truth will not be out – and wasn’t - until the very final page!

As Elaine Wheeler, Shaney Swift gave one of the most excellent performances I have seen for a long time in local theatre productions. She had a flawless American accent, was totally word-perfect and, apart from a brief exit to change into evening wear, never left the stage. As a damsel clearly in distress, her constantly changing moods, some verging on total paranoia, were totally believable and did much to add to the suspense of the piece. It’s not an easy pill to swallow when a young woman is haunted by the death and infidelity of her husband, both of which happened at the same time, but the reminders of that incident by the arrival a bouquet of white freesias and a blonde wig popping out of a carrier bag made things even more intriguing. Even the recollection of the wrecked car’s number plate, 14127, added to the suspense. You’d be forgiven for thinking that Elaine was a total nut case, but that was a long long way from the truth!

Another very sound and believable performance was given by Tony Stevens as husband John. For most of the time he appeared genuinely kind and supportive of his wife’s problems but his demeanour and loyalty clearly wavered several times in the piece, deliberately throwing us off the scent of what he might be trying to achieve!

There was something very fishy about Blanche Cooke from the moment she walked onto the stage and it became increasingly obvious that she might be closer to John than it first appeared. This was another excellent performance by Clare Williams who I see also handled the publicity and designed the programme for the play. Obviously a woman of many talents!

Helga the German maid played by Deborah Williams raised a few laughs as she skilfully glided in an out of the room, clearly trying to spook her mistress with unwelcome comments, and, at one time, rifling through Elaine’s handbag in the hope of finding a few dollars to help fund a trip back to her homeland. As Curtis Appleby, the Wheeler’s flamboyant theatrical neighbour whose newspaper thrives on local gossip, Keith Minshull also introduced a welcome note of comedy to an otherwise sinister plot. Both characters cleverly dropped the occasional hint on what was going on may not have been quite what it seemed, adding another good level of mystery and intrigue to the piece.

Helen Harrison gave us a sound performance as the rather stern psychiatrist, Dr Tracey Lake, and Daniel O’Donnell as Lieutenant Walker, Chris Harding as Patrolman Vanelli and Warwick Hawkins as Sam Hoke all gave credible performances and contributed well to the production.

The play was directed by Warwick Hawkins, assisted by Lisa Richardson-Lewty and produced by Andrea Keady. All in all, it was an excellent evening’s entertainment.

Thank you Stafford Players for making me so welcome to your opening night. I’m already looking forward to ‘Gasping’ at the theatre in March. Hope you’ll have plenty of cool drinks!

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