Death and the Maiden by Ariel Dorfman

Set in a fragile new South American democracy, this piece concerns Paulina who, fifteen years ago, was picked up by the police, blindfolded and tortured. When Roberto stops to help Gerardo, whose car has broken down, and brings him home, Paulina is convinced that he is one of her torturers. Husband and wife are caught in a gripping, passionate deadlock: one liberal and judicious, the other victimised and full of hatred, coming to grips with an oppressor.

Performance Dates: 6th - 13th February 2010
Director: Geoff Bennett

Review

A superbly atmospheric set and three gripping performances sum up Death And The Maiden, the latest production at the Criterion Theatre, Coventry.

Set in the Chile of 1990 and written by Ariel Dorfman, who spent 17 years in exile because of his opposition to the dictatorship of General Pinochet, this could easily be the story of any number of other victims. In this case Paulina, played with a finely judged mix of terror and malice by Libby McKay. When Paulina's lawyer husband Gerado (Andrew Bayliss), is given a lift home by a random stranger, she recognises the voice of her former torturer. Or does she?

The play makes great use of the Criterion's space and experienced director Geoff Bennett doesn't take his foot off the dramatic pedal for a minute as we are propelled into Paulina's living nightmare. Only this time she's the one with the gun. "Good Samaritan" Roberto (John Fenner) can only protest his innocence. He reminds Paulina of the cycle of revenge; of the need to bury the past; of how if she kills him then in 15 years time his children will come to kill her.

Meanwhile, Gerado has been appointed to a new transitional government commission which has promised to investigate all deaths during the former regime - but actually prosecute nobody. It's time to look forward, he tells his vengeful wife. But does he, or she, really believe that?

A fascinating, thought-provoking evening.

Star Rating: *****

Barbara Goulden

Moonlight and Magnolias by Ron Hutchinson

Hollywood, 1939: semi-independent mogul David O. Selznick has just shut down production on the most eagerly anticipated movie in history - his mega budget version of Margaret Mitchell's bestselling novel Gone With The Wind - scrapping the original script and sacking the director in the process.

Detrmined to produce a rewrite in five days, he engages the services of ace script doctor Ben Hecht - possibly the only person in America who has not read the novel - and the movie's new director Victor Fleming, poached straight from the set of Wizard of Oz, where he had been squabbling with the Munchkins and coming to blows with Judy Garland.

His reputation on the line, and with nothing but a stockpile of peanuts and bananas to sustain them, Selznick locks himself in his office with his two collaborators, and a marathon creative session begins...

Performance Dates: 27th March - 3rd April 2010
Director: John Ruscoe

Review

BEG, steal or cheat your way into getting a ticket to see Moonlight and Magnolias, the latest production from the Criterion Theatre.

The play written by Coventry writer Ron Hutchinson is set in the Hollywood of 1939, just before the Second World War, and based on stories surrounding the tortuous, and hysterically funny, last minute rewriting of the screenplay for Gone With The Wind.

Legend has it movie producer David O. Selznick, who was married to the daughter of MGM boss Louis B. Mayer, locked radical screenwriter Ben Hecht and director Victor Fleming in his office and fed them peanuts and bananas for a week until they came up with a better script.

Tim Willis, on loan from the Talisman Theatre, Kenilworth, offers an absolutely sensational, no-holds-barred tour de force in his recreation of Selznick - his former roots in the professional theatre flashing out like a neon sign.

Not that Criterion regulars Jon Elves, Matt Sweatman and Rebecca Fenlon don't do more than enough to keep up their end of the dramatic action.

Jon plays Hecht, the Jewish writer with genuine concerns about turning the character of Scarlett O'Hara into a heroine when she keeps slaves and even slaps the odd one. Meanwhile Matt is the director who's just been pulled off the set of the Wizard of Oz after slapping child star Judy Garland!. You couldn't make it up which is why Hutchinson doesn't really have to do much other than throw in the imaginary, but brilliant dialogue, to which Criterion director John Ruscoe adds the sophisticated slapstick and consummate timing.

I particularly loved the scenes when all three men are bouncing off each other while Rebecca Fenlon, as hard-pressed secretary Miss Poppenghul, dazzled all on her own.

The play is only on until April 3....if you can't get a ticket I suggest a campaign for an extension to the run.

Star Rating: *****

Barbara Goulden

Whipping it Up by Steve Thompson

It's a week before Christmas, and the new Tory government is facing dissent over its latest Bill. With a majority of only three, the Whips' office is out in full force, and they'll stop at nothing to keep the strays in line. But they're in for a long night: boy scouts are rioting in Whitehall, the PM's golfing with the President, five Tory rebels are on the loose and the Chief Whip's playing at Santa - could this be the beginnings of a leadership challenge?

Whipping It Up is a fast-moving switchback of a play, with more twists and double-bluffs than a poker game between conmen.

Performance Dates: 15th - 22nd May
Director: Gennie Holmes

Review

Never has a play been more topical or prescient in its electoral outcome....okay so David Cameron didn't win an outright victory but he might have just squeaked in with the sort of three-seat majority envisaged by playwright Steve Thompson.

In such a situation the government whips - the threat of a good thrashing borrowed from hunting terminology - are all important for keeping the party pack together.

This is an ambitious and revealing play, although I did sometimes think the timing wasn't as precise as it could be.

All six characters are perfectly cast and it isn't hard to see Pete Bagley as chief whip, Fulton MacKay, one minute waxing lyrical about the nobility of party idealism - the next relishing his terror value as the fanatic who might come round and get you in the middle of the night.

As his deputy, Bill Butler was suave but not always word perfect. Meanwhile John Waters, as young turk Tim Atkinson, MP, was sharp and used his interest in stage combat to terrific effect in his fight with bewildered backbencher Guy Pitcher (Pete Gilliam), who bewailed the problems of being gay when attending Tory tea parties.

I also particularly enjoyed Christine Ingall's no-nonsense role in Opposition and Sara Farmanfarmal's mesmerising legs as she tries to climb into the confidence of "sources close to the prime minister."

A wordy and difficult play to get just right, but director Gennie Holmes makes a very good stab at it.

Barbara Goulden

The Herbal Bed by Peter Whelan

The play is based on actual events which occurred in Stratford upon Avon in the summer of 1613, when William Shakespeare's eldest daughter Susanna was publicly accused of having a sexual liaison with Rafe Smith, a married neighbour and family friend.

Her husband, the respected Stratford physician John Hall, is desperate for her to clear her name in order to save his practice and gives her his complete support - but how can he avoid the fact that one summer's night while he was away from Stratford, Rafe Smith was seen secretly leaving their herbal garden?

Performance Dates: 10th - 17th July 2010
Director: Keith Railton

Review

It has to be said that the inspirational stage set is the all-pervading star of this historical intrigue, based on true incidents involving no less a person that William Shakespeare's beloved elder daughter, Susanna.

The year is 1613 and Shakespeare is dying quietly round the corner at New Place, the grand house in Stratford he bought for his retirement. Peter Whelan's play has particular significance for audiences living so close to Stratford, those of us who actually know the short distance between the site of New Place and Hall's Croft, the fine home Susanna shared with her physician husband, Dr John Hall.

Libby McKay makes a gripping job of her role as Susanna and the tension audibly crackles in the scenes between her and her would-be lover Rafe, played with a mixture of strength and diffidence by Andy Chaplin. Then there's the good doctor himself, played by Criterion newcomer David Eardley with a measured veneer of calm, which only starts to become unravelled when the scandal gets as far as the bishop's (Doug Griffiths) court. It's here, within the sight of God, that over-zealous cleric Barnabus Goche (Tim Willis) does his damnedest to root out the sin he can smell being smothered by the herbs growing back in the good doctor's garden.

Audiences can smell the herbs too, they're real and planted in the auditorium, just below the half-timbered Elizabethen set that took Bob Morley and his team months to assemble.

In the end it is only the maid, perfectly played by Kat Cooper, who holds the key to averting the public disgrace brought to Susanna's door by nobleman's son Jack Lane (Calum Speed). But will she have the strength to stand up to the puritanical Barnabus Goche?

Directed by Keith Railton, this is a long play, but one well worth the effort. Tickets are likely to sell out fast.

Running time 2 hours 45 mins (including interval)

Barbara Goulden

The Talented Mr Ripley by Patrica Highsmith

When Tom Ripley is sent to Italy to track down Richard Greenleaf, the errant son of a wealthy American couple, his mission takes on a sinister twist as their lives become inextricably entwined.

Phyllis Nagy's stage adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's novel explores the mind of one of crime fiction's great anti-heroes; an intelligent, suave and charming psychopath whose amorality is at the centre of a plot about duplicity and murder.

Performance Dates: 4th - 11th September 2010
Director: Wendy Anderson

Review

Better to be a fake somebody than a real nobody. That's the message behind this unusual tale based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith which has been adapted for both stage and cinema.

For those who don't know the story, Mr Ripley is a murderous version of Billy Liar. He wants another life, any other life except his own which is dull and impoverished and doesn't allow for his sexuality.

The action is set in the America of the 1950s and swirls around Gareth Cooper in the challenging title role. It's a part he commands with consumate control, even changing clothes on stage while remaining calm for 95 per cent of the time.

But watch out for that five per cent outburst.

I also particularly liked Dawn Morris's contrasting performances as both the mildly hysterical Emily and the cleaning-obsessed Aunt Dottie. Her timing was great even though on the first night she missed the occasional line.

Joe Fallowell (Richard) seemed a little nervous to start with and some of his scenes with Sara Beamish (Marge) looked uncomfortable - though both warmed up as the action progressed and they began to relax.

The American accents were convincing. I enjoyed Pete Gillam's interpretations of Mark and old school pal Freddie, while Matt Sweatman (Herbert) has now got so much experience of being a Yank that it seems to come naturally.

Final word for Sam Taylor who had a variety of accents to juggle - and did them without missing a beat.

This is a complex play, not easy to perform and one that demands complete attention over two fairly long acts. With the cult of celebrity so strongly embedded in 21st century life, director Wendy Anderson deserves congratulations for choosing it.

Running time 2 hours 40 mins

Barbara Goulden

Pleasure And Repentance Compiled by Terry Hands

Terry Hands has devised a most ingeniously entertaining look at love in his anthology Pleasure and Repentance.

Performance Dates: 22nd - 25th September 2010
Director: Geoff Bennett

Love and Duty - Double Bill

Still Life by Noel Coward and The Browning Version by Terence Rattigan

Performance Dates: 16th - 23rd October 2010
Director: Ruth Millar

Not About Heroes by Stephen Macdonald

This moving play is about the poetic life and the inter relationship between two of the finest Great War poets: Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon.

Performance Dates: 3rd - 6th November 2010
Director: Helen Withers

Little Shop of Horrors

A nerdish florist finds his chance for success and romance with the help of a giant man-eating plant who demands to be fed.

Performance Dates: 4th - 11th December 2010
Director: Tim Willis
Musical Director: Bill Bosworth