By Gary Murray
Dangerous Obsession, a taut thriller, is the third production in the Summer Playhouse season at the Devonshire Park Theatre.
Author N.J. Crisp wrote mainly for television, notably The Expert, a series about a forensic scientist, and boardroom drama The Brothers, both big TV hits during the 1970s.
However, when Dangerous Obsession was adapted for television, it was altered so extensively that Crisp famously insisted his name was removed from the credits.
No such problems here. A fine cast keep the twists and turns of the intricate plot motoring along nicely.
The action takes place in a claustrophobic, overheated conservatory at the home of Sally and Mark Driscoll, a couple who seemingly have it all. Or do they? Because a stranger arrives asking awkward questions – questions which threaten to blow apart their whole world. A stranger who seems to know more about them than they know about him.
Toby Manley (top left) as the stranger John Barrett has a nice line in a slightly queasy surface politeness. And an understated bleak humour: “Let’s all take a minute to recompose ourselves.”
Lucy Jane Quinlan and Pete Ashmore (above left) as the couple, Sally and Mark Driscoll, give good performances too as the evening turns out not to be quite what they had planned.
A mention too for the set, designed by Andy Newell, displaying an almost 1970s-style sitcom ordinariness which belies what is to come.
The Summer Playhouse season, using a repertory company of actors, has been a great idea, not least because of the quality of that company.
Dangerous Obsession runs at the Devonshire Park Playhouse until Saturday, July 27. Top photo credit: Instagram / Eastbourne Theatres
:: The reviewer paid for their own ticket
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