Trap for a Lonely Man
By Robert Thomas,
Translated by Lucienne Hill & John Sutro
1^st September 2022

It was a delight to welcome back Dovercourt Theatre Group to the Guild and for my first visit to The Studio.

A very warm welcome was given to us on our arrival and we were shown to our very comfortable seats.
Being a Studio Theatre the audience and actors are very close to each other, and in the case of DTG the audience had to enter the auditorium via one of the set doors, through the acting area to the tiered seating, this was superbly handled by the Front of House staff.
The front cover of the programme designed by Gemma Holman-Quinn had a drawing of the surrounding mountains and a timer with imposed figure and clock.
The inside pages showing a mountain and forest scene with the cast and schedule of the scenes, the back page had information on the Group and the details of the Production Crew.

A full box set was built on stage with french windows opening on to mountains in the distance and large amounts of foliage around the exit, one door to another room and the other to the front of the building there was also an opening to a staircase. The set was vey effective and the foliage outside the French windows gave a real flavour of the Alps.
The furniture consisted of a chaise lounge and easy chair, a coffee table and bureau and drinks and telephone table which were all painted light grey. These fitted well with the décor of the room itself,
Although unused the fireplace had a log burner and brass fire tongs.

The use of the overhead and boarder lighting worked well, however, as the evening wore on and outside and on stage lights dimmed and the room lights were switched on it would have been of advantage to have had a practical light on stage i.e. a standard or table light.
The sound of cars arriving and leaving again worked well giving the authenticity to the action.
There should have been a gunshot noise when the pistol was fired at the Tramp, as there wasn't the very fast slick action of the shooting lost a bit of its impact.

The play is set in France 1958 and the costumes needed to be of that period and indeed they were. The Woman's dresses were gorgeous absolutely 1950's, and the priest's Cassock and Saturno hat were in keeping with the time.
I would have thought the Tramp's costume should have been more disheveled he looked rather too well dressed for a tramp.
The Man looked uncomfortable wearing just pyjamas, smart as they were, perhaps a dressing gown as well would have looked more in keeping.
Both the Inspector and the Nurse had clothes that fitted the period.

Just as it should be for actors in close proximity to the audience although as with the Tramp's costume, he looked too clean and well shaven.

What a joy to see the wonderful period telephone on the set, bottles of whisky and brandy together with the correct glasses, newspapers and books on the coffee table, and a French looking cigarette packet.

A mammoth part for any actor to take on, Jordan was on stage throughout the entirety of the production.
For his character, Corban, he needed to create a man whose wife had gone missing, with all the emotions of stress, surprise when his "wife" turned up, joy when the Tramp remembered his wife. I like the rest of the audience was convinced that his real wife would turn up alive.
Jordans character managed to establish all the emotions needed for the “Lonely Man”. In complete contrast to "The Man" Richard gave us very laid-back controlled Inspector. This created the illusion he was part of the plot to discredit Daniels over-stressed character. Creating the deception that the Tramp, Merluche has been shot and wounded and then killed by an injection of arsenic.
In the last scene The Inspector's character changes completely to the strong interrogating policeman determined to get his man. This was an intriguing, underplayed character which kept us on the edge of our seats as the play progressed. Suitably dressed in a cassock complete with dog collar and a Saturno, this again was a rather laid-back character of Father Maximin.
Chris gave us a very friendly priest wanting to help Corban in any way he could, we did feel in his manner he wasn't the person he pretended to be. I did feel that his collapse after drinking the "poisoned drink was a little too quick and contrived, maybe he could have take a bit more time, even writhing in agony would have made it a bit more realistic. Looking very much the part of the "missing wife" Florence and looking gorgeous in the wonderful drees she wore Gemma gave us a very strong confident performance and dominated not only the stage but also Corban. It was only when the Tramp arrived, who was a witness at the wedding that we realised that the wife was not the person she said she was.
Her mood changed depending on where she was with either Corban or the Inspector or Priest. Whose side was she on? It was only at the end of the play it came to light who she really was. This was a great performance.
Well done. Looking a bit too clean for a tramp or an artist, Andrew did however make Merluche into a believable character that was a witness at the wedding of Daniel and his wife and remembers her for being a big blonde and not the dark haired supposed wife
Andrew gave a very strong controlled performance; he convinced the watching audience that he was the one telling the truth. Merlurche did tension up when confronted by Florence regarding the wedding, this was a wonderful change of character.
As already mentioned it was a pity the gun didn't fire as Merlurche was being shot. The Nurse, Mille Berton, devious, money grabbing, feisty, Katherine needed to create all of these emotions in a very short space of time as indeed she did. We didn’t know who's side she was on until she started to blackmail Daniel, she turned out to be a really nasty piece of work.
Katherine managed to control the character of Mille superbly.
Well done.

First get a good play, especially a Thriller, make sure you can cast it and stage it.
Maree achieved all of these requirements, a very well-staged set on a limited acting area, good portrayal of the characters involved, and a good pace.
Although I had seen this play some years ago I couldn't remember the ending, and this production kept me on the edge of my seat throughout. All the characters were well defined and totally believable.
On the first night when I attended the audience really enjoyed the production as did I.

Michael Poole
Adjudicator
North Essex Theatre Guild

Trap For A Lonely Man, written by Robert Thomas

Director Maree Noons

Performed at The Dovercourt Studio, Dovercourt on Friday 2nd September 2022

I was warmly welcomed at Front of House by Linda Potter and Chrissie Donegan.

The single set represented the living room of an alpine chalet near Chamonix. It was carefully designed to make excellent use of every inch of the very small stage area. Encompassing a most attractive view of a garden through open patio doors, complete with appropriate greenery, a set of stairs leading offstage, a realistic fireplace and appropriate furniture and a creative backdrop by Abi Porter, it transported the audience to the Alps. Well done to everyone who contributed to the set – it was most convincing !

The play, in three acts, is best described as a psychological thriller, fast moving and with an unexpected twist at the end. Without exception, the small cast of six actors, portrayed their characters convincingly and with enormous energy and skill.
Jordan Brown, as The Man, was the husband whose wife had apparently disappeared without trace. He displayed all the emotions of a distraught man with incredible facial contortions and energy and was unwilling and unable to recognise The Woman who purported to be his wife. He appeared convinced that he had been targeted by a gang.
Gemma Holman-Quinn, as The Woman ie so-called missing wife who appeared on the scene, was strong and confident in the role. She used her great powers of persuasion to try to convince The Man that she was indeed his missing wife but failed to do so.
Richard Kemp-Luck, as The Police Inspector, played a straight, rather ponderous character upholding the rule of law and was very well suited to this role.
Chris Holman, as The Priest, was solemn, trying his best to tease a way through the issues and arguments between The Man and The Woman but was he a genuine priest ? He certainly revealed another aggressive side to his character.
Andrew Dace, as The Tramp and sometime artist, was very polite and well spoken for a tramp fallen on hard times. Was he really a genuine tramp or part of the gang which was a figment of The Man's imagination ?
Katherine Johnson, as The Nurse, had a small but very essential role which she played in a somewhat strident, stroppy manner. Blunt and to the point she seemed happy to align with whichever party would be most beneficial to her.
The audience was encouraged to think that the genuine wife had been killed but by whom ? All the characters seemed to have a hidden agenda and seemed shifty and unbelievable at various points. All was revealed at the end in the final twist !

Costumes, lighting ( Greg Potter and Jane Fisher) makeup ( Megan Day) and sound ( Steve Fisher) were all relevant to both the plot and period.
Stage Manager, Margaret Coleman, ensured that the props were changed quickly and efficiently.

This was an absorbing production by this small group of very talented and committed actors and production crew ably directed by Maree Noons who did an amazing job of bringing this all together. The audience really appreciated this production.
I had the opportunity to met and talk to the Director and actors after the performance and congratulated them on a very successful and enjoyable production.

Hazel Hole MBE
Regional Representative
NODA East, District 11