Samuel Oatley ?@SamuelOatley
@TomBurkeOnlinex: @angelwoodall200 @SamuelOatley aha ?? not hallucinating www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/review.php/7849/incarcerator … How myself & Mr Burke met 10 yrs ago.
Incarcerator
Published Thursday 19 May 2005 at 11:55 by Derek Smith
What it says on the tin is what you get, the main theme being entrapment in all its guises. Caught up, as usual, are vulnerable, damaged people - a more disparate but finely drawn set of characters it would be hard to envisage. If Betts’ intriguing and entertaining rhyming writing style, described as Jacobean-influenced, is the oil lubricating the whole production, what drives it are top-drawer, committed performances from each cast member.
Given that this stretches to more than two hours, you need to feel totally involved and it is soon clear that you need to strap yourself in and prepare for the bumpy ride ahead.
Samuel Oatley - in his first play since leaving drama school - is certainly impressive as Jessop, hitched to the wannabee, free-spending sexual tease Smith (Paula Jennings) but failing to cope with the tedium of work and just about everything else. Less easy to feel sorry for is Stuart Morris, played with a constant snarl by the experienced Gary Whitaker, while Fisher (Nadia Silva) is the emotionally brittle woman destined to be one of life’s bridesmaids.
In contrast to their warts and all consumer-driven modern lives is the struggle of Liddle, played by Tom Burke in a fashion which makes you feel as uncomfortable as passing a beggar without giving any money. Released from prison, he is never going to find much care, let alone love in the community.
If this has a fault, it is that you can see the apocalyptic finale a mile off and such is the strength of the company’s performance up to that point that the gore-fest at a final dinner party seems superfluous. But just watching the versatile Dermot Canavan outdo Al Murray as a pub landlord in one of his many roles makes for great entertainment.