This creepy ghost story, written by playwright Don Taylor back in the early 1970s, was Street Theatre's final production of 2005. I was not familiar with the story, but attended and thoroughly enjoyed the final night's performance. The play is centred on four principal characters – Dan and Margaret have journeyed from London into the isolated countryside to spend Christmas Day at the recently refurbished 17th century second home/country cottage of hosts Edmund and Rachel. The actors developed their characters very well. Dan and Margaret, played by Neil Howiantz and Rachael House, were constantly bickering and argumentative, in a lighthearted way, but which indicated maybe some cracks in their relationship. Edmund, played by Rob Prince, was a short-tempered and stressed individual, acutely aware of escaping his working class background, and with his personal demons to exorcise. Olwen Herridge's Rachel was perhaps the central character and "possessed" a softer, more sensitive persona which I'd say was the catalyst for the unfolding events. A chilling first half The curtains drew back to the theme tune from the film The Exorcist, yet this was a red herring, as the play had nothing whatsoever to do with the film. There was, however, a spine-tingling harpsichord piece called Night on the Balcony, which echoed throughout, and which added some spookiness to the proceedings. The first half moved along at a cracking pace with snappy dialogue and some truly disturbing events: wine tasting of blood, unexplained food poisoning, a power cut, and a skeleton being found in the bedroom, which culminated with the two couples finding themselves trapped in the cottage with no way out.
As the interval arrived, I was fully aware that this was not going to have a happy ending; I could also see the direction in which we were heading, due to political overtones and various clues dropped along the way. Eerie climax The Exorcism was obviously a vehicle for the playwright to vent his anger against the capitalist western world in which we live: over-the-top mod cons in the cottage; competitive comments made as presents were exchanged, expensive wines compared, an enormous turkey, all this juxtaposed against the harsh history of the humble cottage itself. Unfortunately, what was chilling in the first half was merely tepid in the second, which seemed to lull somewhat in the middle, with some overlong monologues and a lack of physical action. Consequently, I found my mind wandering into unrelated areas - like how Dan's voice sounded like Grommit's pal Wallace, and how in the shadows Edmund reminded me of Martin Clunes. Nevertheless, the dark tone continued until we reached the final scene; a bizarre and eerie climax, which culminated with a news report emanating from the expensive television that transmitted the fate of the quartet into the now vacant and brightly lit living room. | 
