Annie Whitfield as Alice and Joan Street as Vera in Blind Eye at Whanganui Andram theatre.
Photo / Liz Wylie
Annie Whitfield as Alice and Joan Street as Vera in Blind Eye at Whanganui Andram theatre.
Photo / Liz Wylie
Blind Eye, play by April Phillips, Amdram Whanganui. Reviewed by Liz Wylie
"Nobody near us, to see us or hear us, No friends or relations on weekend vacations ... "
The song, 'Tea for Two' opened the play Blind Eye at Amdram Whanganui on Thursday evening and the audience would discoverthat the innocuous lyrics had sinister connotations as the story unfolded.
Vera Matthews (Joan Street) has been blind since birth but her devoted husband Wally Matthews (Mike Street) is so devoted that the couple needs no-one else in their lives.
April Phillips' play seems a heartwarming tale of lasting true love until Wally is hospitalised after an assault and nurse Alice Dempster (Annie Whitfield) and Police Sergeant Patrick Warburton (Chris McKenzie) enter the picture and begin asking the Matthews awkward questions.
Performances from both Streets were so strong that they almost could have carried the play on their own however Whitfield and McKenzie also gave sterling performances and the audience would discover that their characters harboured secrets of their own.
Annie Whitfield as Alice and Chris McKenzie as Patrick in Blind Eye at Whanganui Andram theatre.
Photo / Liz Wylie
The play does have a few light moments and the cast skilfully delivered the lines that drew some laughs from the audience.
When nurse Alice has to rescue Mr Matthews after he slips in the bath, she asks if he prefers to be called Walter or Wally.
"Now that you've seen me all bare I suppose you'd better call me Wally," he replies.
Vera's failing memory provides for some darkly humorous moments and Patrick recounts some bleak policing experiences with unexpected levity.
The truly uplifting moments in the play came when Wally took Vera on exciting world travels without leaving their 1950s living room.
Wally's descriptions of an opulent Viennese Hotel room and the motion of a gondola on a canal were almost as convincing to the audience as they were to Vera and Mike Street is to be congratulated for some rather fine, unaccompanied singing as well.
Alice becomes suspicious when Wally refuses to answer her straightforward questions and Vera becomes distressed when questions are directed at her.
Why is Vera so drawn towards the rosebush in the garden and why does Wally refuse all offers of assistance?
If you want to know the answers you will need to go to see the play. It is a brilliant small yet perfectly formed cast and the Amdram production, stage, wardrobe, sound and lighting crews have all done a fabulous job as well.
There will be a performance of Blind Eye at 7.30pm on Saturday, at 2pm on Sunday, and three nightly performances next week at 171 Guyton St, Whanganui. Book at iTicket.co.nz or via the Amdram Whanganui Facebook page.
