The Safe House

perryway players & live wire

The Safe House             Cadbury Hall, Frampton on Severn              May 2nd 2018

Author and Director: Jane Ryan                                 Original Music: Danny Ryan 

I love a good thriller and this piece of original writing was well constructed, with the tension building steadily throughout the play.  The characters had been well drawn with plenty of description to enable actors to create believable roles.  The visual effects used were amazing, all helping to take the audience into the heart of the action.  These combined with good lighting, which took us from day time to night time through the window, indoor lighting appropriate to the time of day, and combined with good sound for the thunder storm, created good atmospheres.  The only effect I felt was wrong was the blue flashing lights and sirens of the Police Car, if this was a secret Safe House surely no one would want to draw attention to the arrival of the police it in that way.

At the beginning we really felt we were on the plane flying to the remote ‘Safe House’, and we witnessed the remoteness of the location.  The weaving of Historical and Mythical themes into the modern day events was clever, and the manifestation of the kelpies and aurora borealis filling the auditorium, contributed to the tension.

The set was well designed, constructed and painted to give the required entrances and exits, with windows through which we saw the time of day.  It was a well-dressed set which gave the feel of a remote, cosy country cottage, designed to make anyone feel relaxed and cossetted; with the lovely painting of Cormack’s ruin on the wall.  The makeup and costumes were all appropriate for the characters

The script called for a cast of five covering a good age range of teenagers to middle age.  There had been several young people who were capable of performing the two teenage roles of Sam, the young lady under protection as she has witnessed a crime, and her older brother Ed, and so it had been decided to split them between four young people who performed on alternate nights.  The two I saw on opening night were confident in their roles and behaved like siblings, with their squabbles and banter, but supported each other when things started to get a little difficult.  Julie Ryan was well cast as Annie Drummond, the person who was looking after the teenagers, she was always in control, showing a motherly side to her nature when dealing with the teenagers, and showing her strength, gained from her police training, when dealing with trouble.  Henry Beck gave a good portrayal of the unpleasant character of Detective Inspector Jones, who is in charge of keeping young Sam safe, but is in league with the criminals.  The last member of the cast was Mark Niblett, who certainly showed his darker side as the rather sinister stranger.

Director Jane Ryan, had worked closely with her cast and technical team to produce an original piece of theatre, which captured the audience and kept their interest, wondering what would happen next.  The background music written by Danny Ryan, was beautifully haunting and set the tone for the unfolding drama.  It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

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