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Friday June 5, 2009
Spider's Web
I have seen several productions of this play before* but luckily I never seem to retain much about the plot - although it incorporates a number of favourite AC devices, like the faked bridge game where the players set everything up but fail to notice that they are supposed to have played several rubbers with a card missing from the pack.
This version was excellently staged by the Agatha Christie Theatre Company who were responsible for And Then There Were None [from the book of a different name, based entirely on a (now) totally unacceptable nursery rhyme], and which we saw a couple of years ago in the West End. Melanie Gutteridge carries the show as the perfect and charming 1950s little woman Clarissa - a role apparently originally written with Margaret Lockwood in mind. The performances were convincing and made the dialogue light and humorous - quite unlike And Then There Were None which was suitably dark and menacing.
* I have also listened to a strangely-written talking book version of this play. "Strangely-written" since this was not originally ever a novel but always a script. The talking book more or less actually described the play and all its action within the single setting of the drawing room. Very odd.
Posted by Christina at 11:39 PM. Category: Art and Culture
