Alan Ayckbourn’s Snake in the Grass gives an opening impression of a potentially genteel tale concerning reunion of two sisters in the garden of their late father’s country house, complete with tennis courts, a summer house and the very important well, of which only the covered hole is evidence.
Ample suspense combine with startling twists and turns in the story and supernatural elements
The script makes many demands on the set and director Andrew Panton and designer Jen McGinley have created a stunning and realistic scene that lives up to all expectations. Further enhanced by mood lighting from Derek Anderson and sound from composer/designer Niroshini Thambar all the elements are there for the plot to unfold, which it does very quickly.
Annabell Chester (Deirdre Davis) left the family home decades ago for a life in Tasmania. Her sister Miriam (Emily Winter) remained and has had an unfilled life with their demanding father, who rather mysteriously, in a late change to his will, left everything to Annabell. Memories, many of them unpleasant, clearly fill her head, already befuddled with jet lag, as Alice Moody (Ann Louise Ross) suddenly appears from behind a trellis. She was a nurse to the sisters’ late father and wastes no time in saying that Miriam was involved in their father’s death; that he had expressed concern about Miriam's actions and that she has a letter written by him to prove it. She demands £10,000 or she will go to the police with the evidence and Miriam will end up in jail. As a friend once said, “Where there’s a will, there’s family.”
In no time at all the atmosphere has changed dramatically. Now we have a possible murder in the family, a blackmail plot and revelations of paternal and matrimonial abuse from the two sisters. However this heavy material is treated with considerable humour by Ayckbourn. Some of it is laugh-out-loud, which the cast deliver with full strength, but they also know how to deal with self-deprecating humour and embrace the art of delivering venomous slurs and deploying wit. They are three very different yet delightfully drawn individuals whose chemistry ensures that they play well off each.
Ample suspense combine with startling twists and turns in the story and supernatural elements that with sounds and voices keep us on edge. It's a classic thriller and this production is an excellent opportunity to see how it should be staged.
