Dead Certain at Norbury Theatre

12:04pm Tuesday 4th March 2008

WALKING into the quaint Norbury Theatre, one of the first images you see of Dead Certain is a striking blonde lady, in a wheelchair, being strangled by a man in corduroy. Already I was intrigued.

The first act opens slow paced and usual, every-day chit chat supposedly conveying the human emotion that every play attempts to explore through the mundane.

A crippled performer who has turned her hand to writing, employs a young failing West End actor. Sounds simple enough, then out of nowhere, you feel as though you've been thrown a bag of puzzle pieces and spend the rest of the first and second act trying to work out what the picture will be of.

You only ever see the two actors onstage, and that's all you need.

The mounting rollercoaster tension and the unsettling, patronising character of Elizabeth kept the audience hooked. The quality of performance from both the characters was both introverted and dripping with irony, never letting your attention slide and miss out on vital puzzle piece.

This performance of Dead Certain was fantastically clever and witty, and anything but amateur. And as for the ending, completely infuriating and wholly intriguing, Dead Certain is theatre as it should be.

Editor's choice