Vincent is a professional suicide merchant. Contracted by Walter Bryce, he arrives at his house and mistakenly assumes that a lethal potion was intended for Walter's consumption.
It then becomes clear that Walter's wife Celia is the client — or is she? Why are her suicide letters all typed and unsigned? After several thwarted attempts to poison various characters will anyone actually manage to drink the potion?
Report by: Peter Parlour (NODA Rep. District 6) on Sat 12 Nov 2011 (corrected for inaccuracies)
Venue: Georgian Theatre Royal, Richmond
Producer/Director: Suzy Brown
This was a black comedy, very witty and extremely funny, which was well presented by RADS, with some excellent performances led by Stewart Kerr as Vincent, a lower-class cockney who works as a professional suicide broker for a company called Exodus. He turns up at the Bryce household, assuming that Walter Bryce, really excellently played by Mike Walker, was his client, whereas it was actually Celia, the wife, who was to receive the deadly potion. Vincent mistook Samaritan Mrs. Withers, well played by Barbara Hughes, for Celia, the wife, but found out just in time and the potion ended in the plant pot.
A similar situation occurred when Angie, Walter’s lover, well played by Sarah Seymour, received and discarded the deadly dose. It seemed that Celia had received it, but it proved to be the wrong glass. With so many glasses of wine on the table, even Vincent could not remember which contained the poison, chose the wrong one, and poisoned himself. It really was a hilarious play, very well directed and acted, and the members of the audience went home with smiles on their faces.
Reviews