Hare’s plays tend to be wordy with virtually no action, and this is typical of his genre. That doesn’t mean that his plays are boring. Far from it, he has a great talent for giving huge depth to his characters. He often leaves the audience squirming as his beautifully structured dialogue exposes the personalities.

This two and a quarter hour play is being presented by the Limelight Theatre Repertory Company, at the Limelight Theatre, Civic Drive in Wanneroo. The performances are on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at 8.00 pm until 8^th October.

It is a freezing November evening in 1995. Robert and Susie Benson-Parry have completely captured the semi-squalor of this post war residence – built to a budget. The scene is Kyra’s downmarket, top-floor flat, in Kensal Rise situated in the Borough of Brent – one of north London’s most deprived areas. There is a cramped, shabby dinette, with a single bedroom leading off the room. Well fitted out with Carryn McLean’s props.

Stage managed by Pearl Jensen and Dayle Seaman. Wardrobe advice from Shelley McGinn.

The show was given the mood of the film ‘A Brief Encounter’, with well-chosen music by Alan McPherson. The sound techs were Patrick McGinn and Kim Elford, with lighting by Zachary Ozlins.

     Shivering schoolteacher, Kyra Hollis (Emma Shaw) is home after a gruelling day, of educating disinterested kids in East Ham. Her flat seems even colder than the bleak weather outside. She puts on woollen mitts, and plugs in her ineffective, one-bar electric fire.

     Kyra rushes through to the bathroom to run an ache-easing bath. When she comes back into the sitting room, a young man is standing there. He is Edward (Jacob Turner), an eighteen-year-old student whom she has not seen for three years. Kyra gives him a peck on the cheek. Edward is the son of Tom (Gino Cataldo), a wealthy businessman with whom this much younger woman had a 6-year affair.

      Edward tells Kyra that his bedridden mother has now died; and that his father has not been the same since Kyra left their household. Before leaving, he pleads for Kyra to come back.

      No sooner has Kyra finished her bath, but her doorbell rings. It is the highly charismatic, but manipulative Tom, come to work his spell on Kyra – or will she see through him and his dubious ideologies this time?

It takes a special kind of director to make a psychological drama interesting to the audience, and James Hough-Neilson certainly succeeded. It also takes tremendous skill to carry out what is virtually a two-hander for 130 minutes. Emma was on stage the full time, and Gino for a large portion. All three actors were exceptional, portraying full depth to their very different characters.

Jacob set the scene with his ‘little boy lost’ dialogue, hinting to us what a lonely childhood he had experienced. Then Gino came in, showing us the self-centred restaurateur, who felt that throwing money at a situation was always the answer and that people did not really matter.

Both Gino and Emma conquered the mountain of dialogue, mingled with several challenging monologues. They incorporated the subtle changes of mood, and the personality swings wonderfully. Emma was flawless as the poor ‘sponge’, mopping up all of the muck flying around – magnificent performance.

The language of the play was at times quite crude, and I heard some of the older members commenting on it. However, the script was beautifully written and structured, so the language was appropriate to the situation.

An admirable presentation of a very difficult and thought-provoking play.

The 1935 Hitchcock film was possibly one of the cinema’s first thrilling spy films; it was followed by the 1959 film starring Kenneth More, which was much softer in its approach. Now we have this VERY light-hearted, multi-award winning version, which is the fifth longest running London West End play and it had 771 performances on Broadway.

It is August 1935 in England and Scotland. The opening scene is Richard Hannay’s apartment, across the road from Broadcasting House in central London.

There are few flats or pieces of scenery but masses of nifty gadgets (Dave Browning); the whole effect is by well-chosen furniture and some ingenious props (designer Robert Benson-Parry, props Carryn McLean).

The costumes were numerous, from the exotic to the plain weird.

Wardrobe mistress, Joyce Gilbert, had to make many of the costumes capable of rapid change. The wardrobe team built plenty of humour into the costumes, with their good lateral thinking.

   Handsome, suave Richard Hannay (Gino Catalado), the hero of the story, is sitting in his flat. After an awful day, he decides to relax by going to the theatre. Whilst watching a variety show, a foreign woman enters his box and takes a seat. She is Anna Schmidt (Emma Shaw), a mysterious woman who within minutes is wildly firing a pistol. Chased by the police, Hannay takes her back to his rooms.

     Anna warns Hannay that she is being pursued by a secret agent who is trying to kill her. She points out of the window to the dark street below; two men (Gordon Park, Andrew Govey) in cream overcoats are staring back at the window – hired killers?

     Hannay is hunted throughout the Highlands of Scotland, with some daring escapes. Will he ever find the truth about the ‘39 Steps’?

Director James Hough-Neilson certainly had his hands full. Although there were only four cast members to deal with, there were about 130 different roles, 100 sound effects (Pat McGinn) and about 120 lighting changes (Wally Fry). The follow spots (operated by Jordan Jensen, Caroline Kaye) gave a touch of the 1930s theatre atmosphere.

This style of play relies upon the rapid pace being maintained. The actors – not surprisingly with the amount of work – flagged slightly towards the end, but the stage crew (Pearl Jensen, Christine Smith, Dale Seaman, Karen Thompson, Susie Benson-Parry) led by Bronwyn Hammond and Polly Waugh were swift and well organised, good team work. There were many mechanical props that required operation, such as the names of the station flashing by and even the dagger in the dead woman’s back!

The four actors were outstanding, moving smoothly from one character to another. One language and accent to another – even one sex to another, often all in one brief cameo scene.

This play is certainly not for those who studied Buchan’s book for their school English; although the characters and the plot are true to the book, the production is a whacky show, verging on Monty Python and even pantomime at times. The audience loved it, with spontaneous applause regularly throughout. It is great fun, but like most of Limelight’s productions, the whole season was sold out before opening night.

If you wish to see the show, you will need to put your name down on the reserve or cancellation list. A good, solid, delightful production with everyone pulling their weight.