BRIMSTONE & TREACLE

Brimstone & Treacle promotional image

“Alistair Green’s production is pacey and involving. It’s also nastily funny… Chris Hastings is genuinely creepy as Martin… Lorna Doyle plays dull-witted Mrs Bates with real tenderness, and Maria Carson impresses as Pattie… Vanessa Lucas-Smith and Jonathan Langford’s original music is by turns melodious and slitheringly ominous… those who can stomach it may find themselves chewing its themes over for a long time to come”
****
Sam Marlowe,
THE TIMES

“Its horrific portrayal of a young woman in the throes of a two-year long spastic attack is stomach-churning. This is all to the credit of director Alistair Green and superb young actress Maria Carson… Add to this the evil brought onto stage by the seemingly angelic charm of Chris Hastings’ Martin, and this is a most unsettling evening. Hastings shines as a devilish man who is happy to feed off the unfortunate and to do far, far worse… George Gold’s living room design is exactly right, all drab greens and browns…”
Philip Fisher,
THE BRITISH THEATRE GUIDE

“Under Alistair Green’s careful direction, the cast bring out the little details and understated images that the medium of theatre tends to gloss over… the show highlights how strange and disturbing the seemingly commonplace can be… Green’s achievement is to dramatise both the horror and the tenderness of Potter’s writing. Chris Hastings’ portrayal of the ‘do-gooder’ all the while engaged in secret abuse proves chilling indeed… Not exactly a pleasant night out but certainly a show to remember. 1066 Productions’ rendition of a play that will always shock turns out to be subtly thought–provoking.”
Helena Thompson,
THE STAGE

“The fine production by 1066 does the play a great deal of justice. Lorna Doyle's lamb-like mumsy and the sinister Martin, with sublime moments of eye-contact with the audience are two performances to treasure… The stage design and lighting beautifully conjure up the invasion of the depressingly ordinary by the diabolic.”
Michael Willoughby,
CAMDEN NEW JOURNAL

“Alistair Green’s production serves the play well… he has not sought either to embellish or clarify, but keeps a careful balance between naturalism and stylisation, releasing its comedy and allowing its ambiguities to fester in our minds long after leaving the theatre.”
Howard Loxton,
ROGUES & VAGABONDS

“Alistair Green’s darkly comic production is a highly watchable evening’s drama… Green’s production keeps us guessing as to the supernatural element, while maintaining Potter’s pace… George Gold’s design is simple yet very effective, and the music (by Vanessa Lucas-Smith and Jonathan Langford) also works well… an entertaining and disturbing evening at the theatre … given the dramatic denouement, there’s plenty to talk about afterwards. Recommended.”
Paul Webb, LASMINUTE.COM/THEATRENOW

“Maria Carson plays Pattie with such physical and vocal conviction that you see beyond the damaged mind and body to the angel within”
***
Lyn Gardner,
THE GUARDIAN

“Brimstone and Treacle features fantastic acting … The set is bound by hung paintings rather than solid walls, contributing to a cabin fever-ridden sense of voyeurism among the audience… Mrs Bates' desperate railings against her two years of virtual imprisonment while caring for Pattie come across almost too well: after leaving the theatre, I had a strong compulsion to go out and compress as much as possible into the hours left in the night.”
Margaret Foster,
CULTURE WARS