Thriller of the Year, Victoria Hall ADS

THIS is an old fashioned thriller in a style which builds up the suspense for the audience, revealing the villain at the very end.

Done with a quiet simplicity, members of Victoria Hall ADS give a performance without too many frills, but nevertheless managing to create an air of suspense in the final act.

Thriller of the Year follows the plight of Gillian Howard, a best selling writer, who is sure someone is trying to kill her -- using the methods she has written about in one of her books.

In the best tradition of theatre, there are several suspects on hand, most seemingly with good reason to want the obnoxious writer dead.

Katharine Bryan stars as Gillian Howard. After a slightly unsure start, she, and her fellow cast members, did begin to warm to their roles.

Anne Heaton as Edith Howard, the mother-in-law from hell, gave perhaps a performance that was a little too over the top, but she nevertheless managed to bring a smile to the faces of the audience members.

The action takes place in the lounge of Gillian Howard's flat and smoothly runs along at a healthy pace.

Scenery and clever lighting helps create the mood of suspense. Telephone calls taken on stage as part of the storyline featured the actors speaking to pre-recorded tapes. This seems prone to cause problems with timing, as it went astray once or twice.

Perhaps it would be worth employing the services of an actor or two to speak the roles live each night from behind the scenes. Beverly Greenberg