Skip to main content

Review of Theft at the Castle Theatre Studio, Wellingborough

The comedy-thriller Theft by Eric Chappell tells the story of an anniversary celebrating couple returning to the devastation of their home being ransacked in a burglary. However, this ransacking pales in comparison to the ransacking of their lives that then occurs as home truths are revealed.

Anyone old enough to remember the works of Theft writer Chappell (Rising Damp and Only When I Laugh), could be forgiven for thinking that this 1996 play might feel a little dated for a 2021 audience. However, bar a few references much of their time now (the weaker sex and female priests for instance), Theft still feels comfortable in the 2021 world, where many of us just want both a good evening of theatre and a good bit of fun. With Theft from the highly regarded Wellingborough Technical Players, they get just that.

The action starts as we find the man of the house John Miles played by Graham Breeze returning, very angry, to his home. He is a rightfully boisterous character, channelling all the rage of the play pretty much through him, and the moral thread that also runs through the play. Breeze is solid in the role, if for me, far too angry at times throughout, and personally, after the initial onslaught entry, which works well, would have benefitted from turning the sound volume of angry down.

Andrew Tidbury as Miles' friend Trevor Farrington is the perfect antidote to the anger, a comically cowardly and softly spoken character, who creeps around trying to look brave behind a golf iron, but jumping at every creak and thud. Shelley Scripps plays the wife of Trevor with a caring, but with an equal measure of self-interest as events conspire to reveal a very personal secret.

The fourth character introduced to the play is Barbara played by Di Wyman, the wife of house owner ("our house") John. Di Wyman plays the initially inebriated character with a pompous air throughout, always feeling she is above everyone in status (and actually also above everyone in another area as well as it turns out).

The final character introduced, and in brilliantly staged form, is the burglar of the piece, Spriggs,. This role is in the hands of the immensely reliable Adrian Wyman. Here perhaps, is Wyman at the best I have seen him, in a role that fits his comedic timing and style like a glove. He dominates every scene he is in and ekes out every ounce of comedy in the script, and then some. A quite brilliant performance.

The set is a stripped back living room, presented with furniture and decoration upon an effective black box. It is surprisingly good, working with the antics nicely. Equally, Richard Llewellyn directs with pace, never allowing this reasonably long play to flag. Keeping the cast moving and never allowing the eye to linger more than a moment, the play zips along and never feels like its running time.

Theft is a surprise, in both script, storyline and humour. It has hardly dated, and here with the quality Technical Players cast, is well performed. It deserves a full audience for its remaining performances, and actually, after a couple of years of trial in the world, you also deserve to see this treat of a play.

A ticket to this would not be a theft of your money, it would be a treat for your soul.

Performance reviewed: Wednesday 10th November 2021 at the Castle Theatre Studio, Wellingborough.
Theft runs until Saturday 13th November 2021 (including Saturday matinee).

Tickets and further details are available here.

Popular posts from this blog

Review of The Rocky Horror Show at Milton Keynes Theatre, Milton Keynes

Seeing the 46-year-old Rocky Horror Show at the theatre for the first time is quite an experience on many levels. First and foremost as a regular theatregoer, the audience, even on a relatively demure evening of a Monday, is something you would never really experience at a theatre beyond this show. Many are dressed up (even on that demure Monday), and so many are so in tune with the show, that these regular fans have become entwined within it. They know every word of the script, they contribute to it, they enhance it, often they make Richard O'Brien's already adult content into something much more adult. It's a revelation of experience, much before a newbie such as myself even considers the show. Laura Harrison's beautifully clear rendition of Science Fiction/Double Feature sets the scene for some generally excellent performances of O'Brien's classic tunes, in a musical which is clearly audible, sadly not something that always happens with many productio...

Review of Breaking the Code at Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton

Breaking The Code , the opening play in the new Made in Northampton season at Royal & Derngate, is a surprisingly old and rarely seen play. Written in 1986 by Hugh Whitemore, it tells the story of legendary codebreaker Alan Turing, a man who, in the 1980s, when this play first appeared, was relatively unknown. The years since the origin of this play have been good for Turing, with his life's work finally getting the recognition it deserves, and also, very much what this play centres on, a recognition of the horrific life and end that Turing had as a result of dealing with the laws of the day. Breaking the Code has seen life before on the stage of the Royal, as back in 2003, Philip Franks took to the role of Turing in a very well-received production. So, what of this brand new version directed by the Royal & Derngate's artistic director Jesse Jones? Does it live up to Turing's legend? That is an unquestionable yes with no machines needed to crack the class behind thi...

Review of Cinderella, performed by University Of Northampton BA Actors at Maidwell Hall (Avenue Campus), Northampton

So, this is a bit different, the third year actors (my fifth group of them!) do panto, Cinderella to be precise. Pantomime is my perennial favourite bit of theatre. Oh no, it isn't! However, I have long acknowledged that for an actor, the form is both incredibly important, because if you can entertain kids, you can probably do anything, it also provides a large opening for a regular gig each year as they are so abundant. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that the intelligent bods teaching these students have come to the decision to create a little panto action of their own. This first of three (and the other two are very different beasts, as you will learn from the next reviews) is the ever so traditional one. Formed partly from the work of Looking Glass Theatre and director James Smith, I first saw much of this piece in January 2015, and although I didn't remember a great deal of it after this time, the cheese song managed to flash back to me, perhaps, sadly. So, ...