Gargoyle Theatre, Near the Devil's Kitchen

Review in Issue 5-3 | Autumn 1993

Near the Devil’s Kitchen was devised by the company from a story by Nicholas Ridout. It was advertised as ‘the story of a curse, an inheritance and a lethal banquet. The guests arrive ... at an unknown location.’ Proof that you can't believe all that you read! Little of the above actually happened with the emphasis the publicity implied. Directed by Paul Hunter, this production had some wonderful physical theatre moments, but overall smacked of under-rehearsal and a show that certainly had been devised: i.e. it ran out of clear story two-thirds of the way through, so it goes artistically abstract to cover itself. 105 minutes without an interval and a fuzzy ending – a shame as, in the beginning, it pounced onto us with originality and daring. There was a clear story and clear characters who had clear objectives to keep the action moving along. Basic storytelling provoked lots of laughter from a large friendly audience, but things soon began to nervously reach towards the ultimate cop-out climax, dragging the show down.

Presenting Artists
Presenting Venue
Date Seen
  1. Jun 1993

This article in the magazine

Issue 5-3
p. 14