Satin ‘n’ Steel

Published Wednesday 12 July 2006 at 12:25 by Kevin Berry

Amanada Whittington’s two hander needs a couple of actors who can make the core relationship believable and Hull Truck’s production has been effectively cast.

The narrative is funny and poignant and a little bit more. Liz Carney and Robert Hudson are exploring that little bit more and singing well into the bargain. Their relationship is believable and understandable and it works.

Teena White, played by Carney, enters a karaoke contest and catches the attention of clubland singer Vince Steel. She drops the name White for Satin, joins him on stage and the duo head for the big time, or so they think.

Their attraction is at once basic and complex. Steel has a gay relationship but he and Satin begin an eventful emotional journey. Happiness and show business success are tantalisingly close.

Liz Carney shows Satin developing as a singer and a person. Her realisation that she has pushed Steel too far, in many ways, is a moment of finely toned acting. Hudson gives Steel the air of a man who travels in hope but, deep down, is afraid of arriving.

One of the achievements of the writer and the actors is to make off stage characters part of the action. Teena’s mum and Bernard Matthews, a regional agent, soon become familiar figures.

Richard Foxton’s design surrounds the stage with tables, giving the auditorium a concert room atmosphere. Yet Satin ‘n’ Steel never becomes an excuse for a club land songfest.