Theft

“Theft” written by Eric Chappell is a superb mixture of comedy and intrigue. The story revolves around the goings on inside a country house owned by John and Barbara Miles, who invite their very good and long-established friends Trevor and Jenny Farrington to help them celebrate their anniversary. On their return from the evening out they find that they have been burgled and the culprit, Spriggs, is still in the house. Spriggs tries to persuade both couples that he is the police but before long his true identity is revealed. Spriggs manages to talk himself out of being reported to the police by revealing the couples’ secrets that he has discovered while searching the home. This leads to each couple doubting and criticizing each other and discovering things they are each unaware of.

Sue must be congratulated on this first-class production. The set was well designed with numerous doors in and out of the room allowing the cast to move with the necessary speed.

All five cast members were excellent in their roles with strong acting and good characterisation. The clarity and pace of the lengthy dialogue was great. The actors worked very well together, and this was maintained throughout the play enabling the humour to come across over the four scenes.

The actors playing Trevor Farrington (Adam Diskin) and his life-long friend John Miles (Richard Bailey-Jones) were excellent and had boundless energy and quick-firing banter. Jenny Farrington (Sarah Rose) played Trevor’s wife to perfection - she took everything in her stride and nothing appeared to upset her. For Barbara Miles, it is not easy portraying a character that has had too much to drink without it appearing “over the top”, but Sian Butler Walsh got it exactly right. A great performance. The dialogue between her and John when he discovers she is seven years older than him this was one of many great pieces in this play.

David Cheetham was superb as Spriggs and his lengthy dialogue was delivered flawlessly. His first appearance was when he emerged from the window seat, having been hiding there for ages, leading to physical humour of a numb leg and an attack of angina.

Spriggs works on each of the characters and in time they work on each other with arguments and accusations coming from all angles. Spriggs then has a heart attack and dies. But is he still up to his tricks and just pretending so that with the help of Trevor he can escape - or does he?

Congratulations again to Sue Preston and everyone involved. The set design, props, costumes, lighting and sound all came together to make this a wonderful production.

Thank you for the kind invitation and warm hospitality making it a most enjoyable and entertaining evening for myself and the audience.

 

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.