Review of At the Torch from the theatre dance and drama in Wales web site

Absorbing flagship of new wave drama

At the Torch

Torch Theatre- The Caretaker , Torch Theatre, Milford Haven , February 15, 2002

The tension was unbearable; to clap or not to clap? You know, those potentially embarrassing moments when no one is sure that the play is over.

You look round to see what the cognoscenti are doing. They bring their hands together, so that’s OK then, and we clapped like mad at the end of Harold Pinter’s vintage piece, The Caretaker, having been totally absorbed by this fifties flagship of New Wave drama.

Torch guest director Dave Bond created a hard-edged, black comedy that was so engrossing that the end was almost a surprise. Surely there should have been blood on the stage?

Credit for the taut, atmospheric production must also go to the three actors, Sean Kearney, Keith Woodason and Owen Garmon.

Kearney’s commanding stage presence was ideal for the sinister, smart-suited, thuggish mod Mick.

Mick’s brother Aston was played by the quietly spoken Keith Woodason. Woodason gave Aston a mild, hand dog air, but the actor’s subtle clenching and unclenching of his hand, as he almost caressed his pocket, betrayed the misfit lurking beneath his mild manner. The threat was ever present that he too was both unpredictable and violent.

The catalyst for Mick’s brutality was the unwelcome presence of Davies, a vagrant befriended by Aston.

Aston offered the tramp a home in a derelict London flat, apparently owned by Mick.

As the down and out Davies, Garmon was both defiant and scrounging, an eloquent Welshman who resorts to clichés, ‘I’m a bit short (of money) until I get sorted out’. Getting sorted out means travelling to Sidcup for ‘his papers’, including references that will establish his suitability for the job of caretaker. He and we knew that he will never make the journey, just as Aston will never build his shed, and budding property developer Mick will never achieve his ambition to create his interior-designed flat.

Designer Sean Crowley’s mastery of the small detail was once again spot on; the broken panes of glass in the grimy window, the interrogator’s chair used by Mick to intimidate the prone figure of Davies.

The lighting by Elanor Higgins was superb. When Aston and Davies began to squabble territorially like a long-married couple, Davies looked like a wrathful Old Testament prophet as he wielded a knife that gleamed in the semi-darkness.

Acclaimed as a masterpiece of brooding menace, The Caretaker is as much a tale of modern times as it was when hailed a critical success in 1960.

The production plays at The Torch until Saturday 16 February, before embarking on a national tour.

Reviewed by: MILFORD & WEST WALES MERCURY

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At the Torch- reviewed by Victor Hallett (09 June 2011)
At the Torch- reviewed by Ron Waters (14 May 2011)
At the Torch- reviewed by Ron Waters (15 December 2010)
At the Torch- reviewed by Ron Waters (11 October 2010)
At the Torch- reviewed by Tim Barrett (19 August 2010)
At the Torch- reviewed by Ron Waters (13 August 2009)
At the Torch- reviewed by Ron Waters (07 August 2009)
At the Torch- reviewed by Ron Waters (04 August 2009)
At the Torch- reviewed by Adam Somerset (26 April 2009)
At the Torch- reviewed by Tim Barrett (12 December 2008)
At the Torch- reviewed by David Adams (05 April 2008)
At the Torch- reviewed by David Adams (04 December 2006)
At the Torch- reviewed by David Adams (25 October 2006)
At the Torch- reviewed by Michael Kelligan (20 July 2006)
At the Torch- reviewed by Michael Kelligan (09 March 2006)
At the Torch- reviewed by Ron Waters, The Stage (16 February 2006)
At the Torch- reviewed by David Adams (12 February 2006)
At the Torch- reviewed by Terry Johnson, The Stage (15 October 2005)
At the Torch- reviewed by Fiona Phillips (12 October 2005)
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At the Torch- reviewed by Simon Carr. Western Telegraph (09 December 2004)
At the Torch- reviewed by David Adams (23 October 2004)
At the Torch- reviewed by Emma Jones, Western Telegraph (21 October 2004)
At the Torch- reviewed by Ron Walters, Milford Mercury (21 October 2004)
At the Torch- reviewed by Graham Williams (10 March 2004)
At the Torch- reviewed by David Adams (06 February 2004)
At the Torch- reviewed by David Adams (10 February 2003)
At the Torch- reviewed by Vivien Stoddart (06 February 2003)
At the Torch- reviewed by Jenny Hanson, Tenby Observer (05 February 2003)
At the Torch- reviewed by ANDREW DAVIES, TENBY OBSERVER (31 January 2003)
At the Torch- reviewed by Viv Stoddart, The Stage (06 December 2002)
At the Torch- reviewed by David Adams (06 December 2002)
At the Torch- reviewed by JENNY HANSON (06 December 2002)
At the Torch- reviewed by ANDREW DAVIES, TENBY OBSERVER (06 December 2002)
At the Torch- reviewed by Assorted Edinburgh papers (02 August 2002)
At the Torch- reviewed by Zoe Hewett (26 March 2002)
At the Torch- reviewed by Michael Kelligan (09 March 2002)
At the Torch- reviewed by Zoe Hewett (09 March 2002)
At the Torch- reviewed by Rebecca Nesvet (28 February 2002)
At the Torch- reviewed by Viv Stoddart, The Stage (21 February 2002)
At the Torch- reviewed by Andrews Davies (15 February 2002)
At the Torch- reviewed by Keith Johnson, Western Telegaph (13 February 2002)
At the Torch- reviewed by Tenby Observer (07 December 2001)
At the Torch- reviewed by Viv Stoddart, Milford Mercury (07 December 2001)
At the Torch- reviewed by Janet Bott (07 December 2001)
At the Torch- reviewed by Fiona Phillips (05 December 2001)
At the Torch- reviewed by Vivien Stoddart (26 October 2001)
At the Torch- reviewed by David Adams (11 September 2001)
At the Torch- reviewed by David Adams (09 August 2001)
At the Torch- reviewed by Victoria Cooper (10 March 2001)
At the Torch- reviewed by Elaine Atack (03 March 2001)
At the Torch- reviewed by Rebecca Nesvett (28 February 2001)
At the Torch- reviewed by Vivien Stoddart (The Stage) (15 February 2001)
At the Torch- reviewed by David Adams (14 February 2001)
At the Torch- reviewed by Ron Waters (08 February 2001)
At the Torch- reviewed by David Adams (21 October 2000)

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