A Lady Mislaid, St Joseph's Players, Mather Street, Leigh. Runs until Friday. ALL is not exactly what it seems in this gentle and sometimes witty production of Kenneth Horne's play.
Set entirely in the living room of an old isolated country house, two unsuspecting sisters find themselves at the centre of a murder investigation.
And when all the threads of a quite complex plot get tied up it provides a very entertaining conclusion.
Unfortunately the time it took to reach that point proved just too long for someone of my attention span.
The first act felt frustratingly pedestrian in pace - a failing of the play itself rather than the sterling efforts of a hard working cast. Joanna Yates as the elder sister Esther was virtually an ever present on stage and very impressive, as were David Hodgkinson as the bumbling but ultimately lovable detective and Joan Doorey as the busybody house maid.
The pace of the plot speeded up noticeably after the interval. This was in part helped by the introduction of further characters in the shape of David Parkinson as George and Dona Wood as a surprise visitor. As all the elements get thrown together the tension builds with an unexpected outcome that left me feeling sorry for at least three different characters.
Behind the scenes staff, led by producer/director Dorothy Galvin have built a convincing backdrop of scenery for the performance and ensured a professional feel to the whole evening.
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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