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Dead Guilty, Broadstone Players, War Memorial Hall, Broadstone

I have seen this Richard Harris play a couple of times in the past but I can’t remember ever finding it quite so chilling as I did in this production – and it wasn’t just because it was a cold night.

The story centres round Julia Darrow, a woman who is crippled after a car accident that killed one of her male colleagues. When his widow wants to visit Julia everything seems innocent enough, but time is to prove otherwise.

This was director Joanne Guess’ first full-length production, but her lack of experience most certainly didn’t show and she created exactly the right amount of tension, keeping the – pitifully small – audience on the edge of their seats.

Sheila Dove really got under the skin of Julia and I could quite believe that she was in as much pain as she portrayed. And her cough, whilst obviously her own and not her character’s, actually fitted in well and accentuated the pathetic state in which she found herself.

Lyn Richell built up the character of widow Margaret Haddrell well, becoming visibly more evil as the play progressed. Gary Paine, playing Julia’s ‘daily male’, Gary, also gave a superb characterisation, as did Val Mantle as counsellor Anne Bennett.

Linda Kirkman

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