The Stillborn Lover

Sun, 10 Aug 2008, 05:49 pm

‘The Stillborn Lover’ by Canadian playwright Tim Findley is the latest production from the Garrick Theatre team in Guildford. It is showing nightly at 8.00 pm until Saturday 23^rd August.

Diplomat, Harry Raymond (Colin Hughes) and his wife Marion (Dale James) have been recalled from the Moscow Embassy and returned to a safe house in Ottawa. They are met by their daughter (Kristine Lockwood), who discovers that her mother is starting to develop Alzheimer’s. On arrival at their new home they are met by their old friends, politician Michael Riordon (Max Harvey) and his wife Juliet (Marion West). Michael is on the eve of becoming the new Canadian Prime Minister.
When the daughter finds two men wandering in their garden, she discovers that there had been a murder in Moscow and these men (Ray Egan and Jason Bouwhuis) were detectives here to protect her parents – or were they?

This very tightly and well constructed, intellectual play is beautifully directed by John Lobb. The small Garrick stage is divided into no less than five separate locations, each with a quality individual décor. The stage is on four levels, yet with careful direction and superb lighting (Roy Hopwell, operator Linda Redman) the action switches easily around.
The story has occasional flashbacks, which give an interesting insight to the parents’ earlier life and the locations at which they have worked.
The acting was well above average, with a special credit to Dale and Ray. A tricky script conquered by talent. The ending, whilst being clearly explained by the actors, seemed to leave a little confusion with some audience members, so concentrate towards the end.
A quality show for the intelligent theatregoer.

My overall opinion

Sun, 31 Aug 2008, 11:15 am

Gippsi

I thought the acting was generally good, with 'Marion' and 'The Superintendent' being stand outs. Their characters were completely believable and they didn't miss a cue. The part of Juliet seemed to me very badly written. I felt the character was only included in the play in order to give background information to the audience. The actor tried valiantly to make Juliet believable but the writing just did not allow it. The set was quite well suited but I thought somewhat busy and mismatched. It was however, well used by the actors with excellent lighting. The second half saw a big hoo haa made between most of the charaters about the inappropriateness of a homosexual government official which came off like a dark version of 'Are You Being Served'. At this point, the play got bogged down in the details of who was doing what with whom. I wonder what other audience members would have been saying after the show, given that the majority laughed raucously at a naked man's behind. I also wonder if that behind was included simply to label the play 'adult content & nudity'. I was left with the feeling that somewhere along the way the writer strayed from simply telling a story, to trying to weave a philosophical web that the audience had to unravel without much help from the characters. I think 'The Stillborn Lover' is aptly named.

Thread (9 posts)

Threaded Flat

The Stillborn Lover— Gordon the Optom10 Aug 2008

The Still Born Lover— Walter Plinge11 Aug 2008
a little confusion — stinger25 Aug 2008
The ending— jeffhansen25 Aug 2008
SHE did it— Walter Plinge26 Aug 2008
the killer— Gordon the Optom27 Aug 2008
Maybe the RCMP killed— jeffhansen27 Aug 2008
Political Intrigue— Labrug27 Aug 2008
My overall opinion— Gippsi31 Aug 2008

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