The Unfriend

Welcome to NODA St Georges Community players and can I say what a delightful afternoon I had seeing your play The Unfriend by Stephen Moffat. Congratulations to Suzi Hutton who directed her first play and very well-done Suzi.

The play centres on a couple who meet Elsa Jean Krakowski (Charlotte Ridley) on a cruise and exchange addresses with her. The consequences are that Elsa arrives at the home of Peter Lindel (Alan Bullock) and Debbie Lindel (Sharon Saint Lamont) and they are too polite and uptight to ask this “suspected killer” to leave their home, as they play with perfect middle class manners throughout the performance.

I commend Charlotte on her flawless American – Denver accent, her brashness and her ‘faithfulness’ to President Donald Trump. Your narrative was faultless and your description of how you perceived others was humorous without being offensive. I recall with a smile “Barnaby – the man with one eye” and “the whale with lips.” You bonded with the Lindel’s son and daughter and almost transformed them. Your interaction with them on stage was amazingly menacing but affectionate. Well done, Charlotte, you thoroughly entertained us all with your commanding stage presence and lived up to the Murder Poppins image.

Stress on the Lindel family when Elsa arrives is high but escalates further with their ‘nuisance’ neighbour’ played by Robin Heron who gave a flawless delivery by portraying a boring, tedious, dreary, man who constantly intruded into the home of the Lindel’s to debate a collapsing garden wall. Your deadpan facial expression hid the sheer exasperation you felt toward your neighbours. This had the desired comedic effect on stage but also resonated with the audience. Elsa described you as “passive aggressive” and you captured the character of the neighbour and executed your role faultlessly. Well done, Robin.

Debbie’s Googling leads her to discover that Elsa is the subject of a crime podcast and is a suspected of murdering her father, her first husband and possibly four others with poison. This propels Debbie into panic to protect her family. Sharon, you gave a strong performance and your role as wife of Peter Lindel was well cast. Your frenzied performance complemented the apparently easy-going relaxed approach of your husband and the two characters worked perfectly together. Alan, the way you ‘dig yourself into a deep hole’ about your mother’s health backfires on you and the audience witness the jitters of a man who is “on the edge”. You capture your rising anxiety beautifully. Your scene with the policeman in the toilet was hilarious. Your audience will not forget you emerging from the toilet with toilet paper on the toilet brush and the utter disgust of your on-stage children as well as your audience. What an impeccable performance, well done.

Your children, Alex Lindel (Tom Sharp) and Rosie Lindel (Nicole Burrow) are clearly very comfortable on stage. Playing the role of a stroppy teenage son and daughter you, both captured the sense of loathing for your parents. You both, with Elsa’s help, became transformed into youths who were united with your parents. You both have much to offer on stage and you embraced your roles enthusiastically. I was impressed with your delivery and the timing of your narrative which captured comedy in the moment. Congratulations to you both.

The policeman, PC Junkin (Charlie Tomson) seemingly entered the home of the Lindel’s without their permission but perhaps at the invitation of Elsa. His assuming presence was impeccable. Whilst the role may be described as a minor role the delivery of the part certainly was not. Again, facial expression and posture on stage was used to great effect and you gave your audience many laughs. The power of silence on stage was also striking. Well done, Charlie.

The whole production was delivered seamlessly with ‘superb technical surprises’. Very well-done technical team you did an amazing job as did the Newsreader (Bridget Rowbottom) I particularly liked the Breaking News shot, the image of Donald Trump flashing onto the screen, the variety of cruise providers we have to choose from and the experience many of us have had with Ryan Air. The technical support was cleverly considered. I also thought the mugshot image of Elsa was a perfect fit with the play.

This play required first rate acting skills from all characters involved in this murder – or was it? Laughs were abundant and all members of St George’s Community Players on and off stage can be proud of this performance. “You nailed it.” Thank you for a warm welcome and I look forward to your next production in November 2026.

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