Theatre
I’ll Be Back Before Midnight
MADC Clubrooms, Santa Venera

Comic thrillers are a subgenre which is particular to say the least, given that they have to have an underlying dark humour and lighter moments, while furthering a plot that is based on suspense, intrigue and a fear of the unknown.

The MADC pushed four of its actors in this direction with their production of Peter Colley’s I’ll Be Back Before Midnight at their Clubrooms in Santa Venera last weekend. The play also runs this weekend.

With a vague setting that could have ranged anywhere between the 1970s and the 1990s, Colley’s script was very character-focused but highly uneven on plot.

Following a mental breakdown, Jan (Steffi Thake) is taken to a rented country farmhouse by her geeky archaeologist husband Greg (Gianni Selvaggi), who insists that the quiet surroundings will help her recuperation. But tales of the ghost of a murdered young woman reappearing bloodstained and a crazed killer hermit ­– which their new landlord George (Joe Depasquale) let slip almost inconsequentially when he drops by to check on them – begin to unnerve Jan. Matters are made worse by Greg’s sister Laura (Becky D’Ugo) turning up, at Greg’s request, before she emigrates to the US.

With relations between Jan and Laura being very strained, the stay in the country is the opposite of relaxing; and Jan soon finds herself embroiled in a terrifying situation where she is unsure of what she is seeing and hearing: culminating in her shouldering the guilt for Laura’s sudden violent death.

Technically, the piece was well executed within the constraints and restrictions of the performance space, especially given its highly complex and plot-crucial light and sound cues with importance given to phone calls, music on the radio, gunshots, thunder, flickering lights and power cuts/blackouts by an unknown source, knocks and bumps in the night. There was also slamming doors and windows, as well as Jan’s personal diary tape recordings to her psychiatrist. Lighting designer Chris Gatt and the team of sound and light operators comprised of Michaela Spiteri, Glenn Attard and Rachel Galea, had their work cut out for them and did a very slick job.

Director Colin Azzopardi’s casting choices were cogent and appropriate, with Steffi Thake and Joe Depasquale’s characters standing out as the two stronger ones

Director Colin Azzopardi’s casting choices were cogent and appropriate, with Thake and Depasquale’s characters standing out as the two stronger ones. Thake’s portrayal of a tired and slightly confused woman who’s determined to get her life back on track – using her perceived naivety to allow others to reveal more than they planned to – was sensitively crafted and well executed, proving that this young actress has made steady progress and is one to watch out for.

Depasquale’s hearty and jovial George hid a dark secret in his past and came across as the ideal presumed villain hiding in plain sight, while Selvaggi’s portrayal of quiet, nerdy Greg, did the character justice in the first act, but not so in the second. This young actor’s lack of experience was made evident by the very convoluted script,which did not allow him enough time to transition from his persona in the first half of the show, which set the pace perfectly, to the very different man he should have been in the second half.

D’Ugo gave a solid interpretation as Laura and rounded the quartet off nicely. It was indeed a pity that Colley’s script gave the audience too much too quickly at the end.

While the dynamics of the cast were good and they played off each other well, the second act felt rushed from a narrative perspective and overestimated audience expectations. This left them feeling rather bemused at such an ambitious plot, while failing to leave the audience on edge and apprehensive at the end.

I’ll Be Back Before Midnight makes for an entertaining but rather intellectually effortless evening out.