THE
UNEXPECTED GUEST
Directed by Kath Ashton and
Barbara Wilcox
NODA Review
This Agatha Christie thriller, as all her work is well
thought out, is written at a time when the class difference
was more acute.
It still up today as a period piece and we had the clipped
speech and excellent diction, in particular from Cassandra
Moon who played the young attractive lady of the manor Mrs
Laura Warwick.
The mysterious unexpected guest of the title, Michael
Starknedder, was played by Lawrence Cohen and he made a
workmanlike Job of a difficult part.
I felt there needed to be a little bit more mystery about
him at times, but well done. A nice cameo from Bobby Day as
Miss Bennett and Eleanor Nicholson was very good as the
mother of the murdered man.
Allan Mayer was suitably subservient as the male nurse
Angell, and the nasty side came across well when he tried
his hand at blackmail. Jullan Farrar had upper class
stamped all over him, and Ken Moss's portrayal was fine
except, the change in his manor toward Laura when he thinks
she has committed the murder did not come across as it
should.
Young Paul Carr played a very difficult part of Jan in his
stride, congratulations!
It maybe in the writing but the lead up to the end of the
play seemed not to flow as well as it should have, Finally
two male performances stood out.
The two Welsh policemen, namely Brian Clarke as Inspector
Thomas and his sergeant played by Alan Pearson were
extremely well done. Alan injected the right amount of
humour into a dramatic situation which allowed the audience
to relax for a short time. All this made for a totally
enjoyable evening.
My congratulations to all concerned.
