SCENE IT: Sinister, sharply witty MRS. MITCHELL COMES TO TOWN, an engrossing masterpiece

Beverley Brommert

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Dramatist Louis Viljoen excels at exploiting audacious material to claim and retain the attention of his audience, and to the reliably arresting genre of the thriller he brings not only his inimitable touch, but also a brilliantly penned script.

Photo by Skye Russell. (Shot on film.)

The dark content of this new play, MRS. MITCHELL COMES TO TOWN, is arresting per se, as the intrinsic nastiness of murder is intensified by infanticide.

Even this aspect of MRS. MITCHELL COMES TO TOWN is eclipsed to some extent, however, by a text that is optimally showcased through delivery from the beguiling voice of Nicholas Pauling, an invisible narrator guiding listeners chapter by chapter through the devious odyssey of the plot.

Photo by Skye Russell. (Shot on film.)

Apart from Pauling's impeccable articulation, the script benefits from pivotal moments of total blackout as he speaks; there is nothing to distract the audience visually, thus enabling concentration on the text's elegant turn of phrase. This device, together with well-timed use of the occasional silence to punctuate the actor's exchanges, is a strength of the play's astute direction.

Masambe's intimate theatre provides the ideal arena for sex and death, those cornerstones of vis dramatica, to ignite the action in this intense two-hander.

Photo by Skye Russell. (Shot on film.)

That said, top marks to the duo of Jenny Stead and Aidan Scott, who do full justice to Viljoen's current masterpiece.

As they dance the edgy fandango of their interaction, leading the audience to speculate uneasily on what comes next, their respective situations and objectives emerge with unsettling clarity.

Photo by Skye Russell. (Shot on film.)

Lucid satire seasons the delineation of the young man's character (he is an up-and-coming political figure); his interlocutor, a glamorous woman hovering around the age to be his mother, is more enigmatic and by far the more sinister of the pair, complete with alarming smile.

Both are in unwavering command of their roles, handling the cut and thrust of the dramatist's supple, laconic and often sharply witty dialogue with magisterial assurance.

Photo by Skye Russell. (Shot on film.)

This imaginative exploration of amoral conduct - a work of eloquence, black humour, skilful manipulation of suspense, and cheerful disregard for conventional morality - is distilled into just over an hour of dense, engrossing theatre.

Viva, Viljoen!

MRS. MITCHELL COMES TO TOWN 

Written and directed by Louis Viljoen

Cast: Jenny Stead, Aidan Scott 

Narrator: Nicholas Pauling 

Design: Kieran McGregor

Venue: Masambe Theatre, until 10  May

Bookings: Webtickets

No U18s