THE HOUSE ON THE CLIFF

A good first shot for our Director although, on his own admission, the more experienced members of the cast helped with their feel of how the play should move.  Mostly the action was seamless, and the set allowed for this. 

I felt the set was very traditional, it served its purpose, and was lit well.  I liked the effect of the car explosion and fire, and the music was well-chosen from a script prompt, which brought the feel of the whole production together.

Costumes were fine, and although there was no real nod to the period as such, the costumes appeared to be of the same era.

I felt that the pace was a little slow, as Act 1 was quite long, although there was plenty of interest in the script, and background explanations that needed to be there for full understanding of the final outcome.  The fact that the plot wove a story where most of the participants could have been the perpetrator of the original crime and its consequences was interesting, which gave me plenty to think about.

Hayley Vaughan (Karen Clayton) created a strong woman, perhaps a little too hard in her speech patterns at times, but no doubting that she was in control, so it was good to see a slight crumbling and insecurity towards the end.

Faisal Mohiuddin (Dr Lane) created a reliable doctor, perhaps his delivery was a little too studied, it slowed the pace slightly at times, but a good representation, and again an interesting ending to his participation in the plot.

Sarah Dempsey (Ellen Clayton) got the fragility of the young lady confined to a wheelchair, which she manipulated well round the small space.  I wanted to see more of her face, as I felt it was expressive, but couldn’t see much of it, liked the way she came alive when Corey came into the equation, very well-acted at the end.

Helen Huson (Jenny) showed her experience as the taciturn housekeeper – a fine portrayal, and good contrast to the other characters.

Sarah Cunnane (Nurse Pepper) was bright and engaging, I really enjoyed the dimension she added to the cast, an expressive and energetic performance.

The final character was Joe Hawkins (Dr Corey Phillips) – a doubtful person from the outset, but Joe handled the diversity of the man well – and the final scene was very well-acted.

Overall, not my most favourite play, but very interesting because of the red herrings scattered throughout.

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