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Show: The House on Cold Hill
Society: Mill at Sonning Theatre Ltd, The
Venue: The Mill at Sonning Theatre. Sonning Eye, Reading, Berkshire RG4 6TY
Credits: by Peter James, adapted by Shaun McKenna
Type: Sardines
Author: Frank Kaye
Performance Date: 11/02/2022
The House on Cold Hill
Frank Kaye | 12 Feb 2022 23:07pm
Whilst The Mill at Sonning is my local theatre, this is the first time that I have done a review there. It is a bit unusual in that it provides a big meal before the show, which is not optional. It means that the entire audience is both full of food and sometimes a little too full of wine. This is taken account of in the choice of plays which are comedies, lightweight dramas, or the very successful musicals. Sally Hughes has been the engine behind this formula since she became Artistic Director in 1984.
The current play, The House on Cold Hill, fits the formula helped by the somewhat ghostly setting of The Mill. The play is somewhat constrained in that the stage is in the half round with all the myriad entrances and exits in the one back wall. The set was given a little more depth with stairs going up to both the left and right of the set. Indeed, the upper window from which much of the scary lighting and sound emerged turned out to be vital to the plot.
The set is made a major component in the play as the opening short scene has all of the elements that establish the plot with the actor entering from stage left, crossing, going up and down the stairs and exiting stage left with various sound and visual effects. As ever at The Mill, audience sitting very close to the wall missed some key aspects of the staging.
As to the play itself, the story is a typical ghost story, with some of the cast believing nothing and some warning of the scary things to come. Key to delivery of the scariness was Dan Buckley, playing Chris, a techy who not only uses the computer but also introduces an “Alexa” who becomes a character in its own right. The key non-believer is Ollie, played by Matt Milburn, who delivers a very convincing performance with his scepticism being maintained through some very scary moments. His wife, Caro, is played by Madeleine Knight who is also very believable. The other main character is Jade, played beautifully by Hannah Boyce, as the rebellious daughter of the family.
The house itself has not been lived in for forty years and the three other characters explain why and, except for Debbie McGee’s weak performance, give a very convincing account of why this is the case. Kevin Hand plays the cocky builder, Phil, who takes Ollie downstairs, via a door in the middle of the set, which establishes another dimension of the set. Harry Gostelow plays a vicar, Fortinbras, who just pops in to say hello but is enticed to tell some very scary tales of the history of the house.
This is one of those plays where the set and in this case, Alexa, play a very important part. Alex Marker is the set designer, and he is to be commended for the way in which he uses the various dimensions of the set, especially that which is not seen, to achieve some scary effects. “Alexa” also becomes a very credible and scary cast member, especially in the second act, often steered by the excellent performance of Dan Buckley as Chris.
The director, Keith Myers, who amazingly spends much of his time directing on cruise liners, achieves a very convincing scariness in both directing the actors and his use of the space. The family must transition from a happy trio to a terrified group and perhaps back to a contented state. The three lead actors’ performances are crucial to this. In particular, the key to this transition is Madelaine Knight in the role of Caro. Matt Milburn also has some major transitions to make throughout the play which he does with aplomb, as does Hannah Boyce as Jade as she moves from cocky to terrified with, no doubt, in all cases, some significant help from the director.
An important mention must be made of Shaun McKenna who is billed as the adaptor of the play. The author is Peter James, but this was written as a novel, not a play. Shaun has converted the novel into a very successful play.
More cannot be said of the plot as it would give the game away, but it was clear from the audience’s final reaction that it worked.