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Performed in May 2007
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Performed in May 2007 |
Home | Links | Director : Martin Crawley | |||
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I first read
Ira Levin's Veronica's Room over four years ago and was instantly captivated
by its strength and guile. Here was a short play with more twists and turns
and more 'are they or aren't they' questions than the average whodunit film.
It was a masterpiece of concise writing and I knew I wanted to produce it
for the stage. The fact that the play was predicated on and derived much of
its tension from the central incestuous relationship between a brother and
sister made it far from the usual fare of AmDram societies. The play though is far indeed from the salacious and Levin had been triggered to write it by the then notorious disappearances of several young women in the Boston area of the US in 1973. This real-life horror story is a springboard he imagined as one possible explanation. In common with his better-known play, Deathtrap, no-one is quite who they seem and the audience is carried along on a roller-coaster of misdirection, clues and downright deceit. I was very lucky with Veronica's Room. Having not long joined The Hamble Players, the committee took a chance and allowed me to direct this nasty but brilliant little play. THP have long had a reputation for innovative as well as high quality productions, a fact reflected in the number of Curtain Call awards the group has amassed in its more than 50 years. Anyone who saw the production knows that the cast were superlative and were completely convincing in their roles. They were great fun to work with during rehearsals and incredibly supportive despite barely knowing me. They added hugely to the production during rehearsals by bringing their own expertise and experience. When designing the set I sought to isolate the actors and and the furniture from any hint of the real world. There were no conventional walls and pictures, windows and doors appeared to hang in mid-air. I hoped this would introduce another note of tension into the play and wrong-foot the audience yet again. I think we succeeded in this and thanks to the tireless work of the backstage crew who actually built, lit and furnished the room I had only imagined. |
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Storyline : Susan and Larry have been befriended by a kindly old couple at a restaurant one evening. Susan is the 'spitting image of Veronica', the long-dead daughter of the old couple’s former employers. If only she’d pretend to be Veronica for an hour, Cissie (her ageing and terminally-ill sister), could die happy. Until the end of Act 1 this pretence continues, although there are plenty of clues for the observant audience member to register and recall. Act 1 ends with Susan, dressed and looking like Veronica waiting expectantly in her old room for Cissie's arrival. The unbolting of the bedroom door and Susan's excited anticipation signal the curtain. Act 2 reprises the last few seconds of Act 1 but Susan is confused as ‘Maureen’ enters the room, soon followed by ‘John’ seemingly thirty years younger and garbed in 1930s fashion. Her confusion only grows as their Irish brogues seem to have been replaced by more familiar New England accents. Neither of these people have any knowledge of the Boston student Susan Kerner and seem intent on punishing Veronica for some previous misdeeds. So the stage is set for a psychological battle. Who is real and who is imagined? Is it really 1973? Is Veronica mad? Are her troubled anxious parents as worried as they claim? Answers, of sorts, come thick and fast - until the final breath-taking twist. The vast majority of the audience left exhausted yet exhilarated at the performances, plot twists and the sheer physicality of Veronica's Room. It's not a play we will forget for a while to come.
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Cast List : Woman : Man : Young Woman : Young Man :
Enlarge poster |
cast Beverley Oliver Patric Howe Rebecca Walsh Paul Warne
The Set
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© The Hamble Players
