Brimstone and Treacle

Published Tuesday 20 July 2004 at 11:55 by Helena Thompson

“Brilliantly written and made - but nauseating,” is how the BBC’s Alasdair Milne described Brimstone and Treacle before banning the very script he had commissioned in 1976. Some 11 years later, Dennis Potter’s creation hit the small screen and has remained controversial ever since.

The play’s origins as a TV script are evident in Alistair Green’s production. Under his careful direction, the cast bring out the little details and understated images that the medium of theatre tends to gloss over. From the peculiar mannerisms of a stranger in another’s home to the contorted speech patterns of a disabled girl, the show highlights how strange and disturbing the seemingly commonplace can be.

Potter’s macabre tale certainly starts innocently enough. A man returns a wallet he has found to the father of a girl recovering from an accident and professes to have been the invalid’s devoted lover. Welcomed into the house as carer by the girl’s overwrought mother, he weedles his way into the family’s affections.

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 - yet as the girl finds the voice and the spirit to protest, the play ends on a curious note of hope.

Not exactly a pleasant night out but certainly a show to remember.To its credit, 1066 Productions’ rendition of a play that will always shock turns out to be subtly thought-provoking.