Pack of Lies

“Pack of Lies”
By Hugh Whitemore
Performed by Holt Players
Date seen: 29 th November 2024

It was a delight to attend the second performance of this play, written in 1969 as a radio
play as an account of real events that took place during the Cold War. The fact that it was
originally a radio play possibly gave rise to a few challenges in presenting it as a stage play,
although the story is most intriguing and engaging. The duplicity of some of the characters
needed to be clear, while the innocents equally needed to be obvious. This was very well
achieved on this occasion.
The staging was simple yet very effective, with the living room and hall of Barbara and Bob’s
home clearly in view. The décor was just right as well, with excellent stage dressing, and
stairs and front door off to stage right. Costumes were well chosen to add to the illusion of
being in a earlier time, and to suggest the characters being played.
The lighting was very effective in creating the feeling of different times of day, and lit the
stage well. The music was also well chosen to suggest the era the play was set in, including
many 60’s songs that the audience could sing along to! However, there were a couple of
longer pauses in the action for scene changes that rather served to disconnect the audience
from the story. Perhaps if the cast were more involved in making the changes, as if
rearranging their own home, it would have appeared more natural and given shorter breaks.
In a play such as this, with a reliance on the script and the situation to convey the drama,
the play could only succeed with a really strong cast, who were a delight to watch in this
case. Body language was well used, especially by Helen, Thelma and Julie. The use of
monologues to explain character backgrounds was interesting and well done, but did rather
add to the slight bitiness of the play.

Individual comments on the characters are as follows:
Barbara:  was very well portrayed.  Her innate sense of loyalty and truthfulness was clearly
shown in her emotional outbursts as she was forced to lie to Julie and Helen, and as she
confronted Bob for agreeing to Mr Stewart’s requests.  The realisation that Helen had
deceived her and that she herself was trapped in an unbearable situation was excellently
acted!
Bob:  was portrayed as a reserved and quiet man, a kindly husband and indulgent father.  He
had a pragmatic acceptance of the situation,realising there was no alternative.  His love for
Barbara was clearly shown and his anguish when he reported her death was poignant.  Very
believable acting.

Julie:   a confident and believable portrayal of a young teenager mildly rebelling against her
parents’ influence, while accepting “Auntie” Helen’sadvice.  Well acted, showing convincing
pain and shock when she was told the true situation regarding the Krogers.  Excellent facial
expressions and a good rapport with the adult actors.
Helen: was very well portrayed as a lively, bouncy personality, great fun to be with.  She
appeared to be a caring, sympathetic woman and was a good friend to the Jacksons.  This
convincing performance showed why Barbara was loyal to her and found it so hard to
believe Mr Stewart.
Peter:  was portrayed as a restrained husband, acting as a brake on his exuberant wife.  His
pleasant personality was used to cover his true nature as an active and dedicated
communist, as disclosed in his revealing monologue.  A good performance.
Mr Stewart: was portrayed as an affable character with a hint of steel.  He appeared to
present the Jacksons with a choice when in fact there was none.  He chose his words with
care, seeming to placate Barbara while actually carrying out his MI6 duty to the letter.  Well
acted, a good performance.
Thelma:  was well portrayed as the acceptable face of implacable authority.  Her job,
besides surveillance, was to achieve friendly relations with Barbara in order to normalise the
upsetting situation and make it more acceptable to her.  A very good performance.
Altogether this was a vey effective presentation of this play, dispaying the emotional upset
of finding that pleasant neighbours could be spies - and the effects that such deceit could
have on a family. The staging was very good, with good movement and excellent use of the
confined space. This was a very enjoyable evening of entertainment, which also raised quite
a few topics of discussion within the audience afterwards. Congratulations!

Dee Way and Joy Smith

N.B. Please note that this report can only refer to the performance seen and express the
personal views of the Representatives commenting.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.