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Review of Becket performed by The Masque Theatre at the Guildhall (Great Hall), Northampton

Becket was the fourth play by the Masque Theatre that I have seen and sadly it left me the most disappointed. However not because of anything that the excellent company and organisers did. All the disappointment came from the venue. The Great Hall in Northampton Guildhall is a most glorious room, stunning height, wonderful decoration. An absolute delight. Well until you sit down and watch a play in it that is. The absolute worst acoustics that I have yet witnessed with so much of the dialogue unheard. And that is with just standard level speech, you can absolute forget it when the characters raise their voices, as that first word reverberates seemingly forever. I write all of the above with great sadness as what I did follow from this play was excellent and the two leads are both excellent. Tristan Smith especially as King Henry II brings an alarmingly playful approach to the monarch, a twinkle in the eye. Knowing nothing of the play other than the history it portrays (a lot of it ...