ConPromise by Mal Williamson, Directed by Mathew Smith EICH Gallery, Hull
By Michelle Dee	Images courtesy and copyright ©2004 of Bob Eells www.plasmator.net thanks Bob.

I shall start with no preamble but immerse you straight away very much the same way that the 30+ audience were. Last Friday night at the EICH Gallery in Hull I was sat in the front row, watching and listening to the reading of ConPromise by Mal Williamson. For the first 5 minutes I tried desperately to understand the characters, to fix them to a location or time.

I thought, as I have always thought, to relate to and enjoy a piece of drama, I needed some starting point, a point of reference to grasp the situation, the characters motivation. I realised after that first uncomfortable 5 minutes that I wasn't going to get nor need that piece of the puzzle. So how am I to explain what I saw? Well at some point I realised we were on a ship bound for ... well, the captain didn't seem to know .... neither did his 2 companions. In fact the destination wasn't important. None of the characters seemed in a hurry to get there, wherever there was.

The piece was possibly set in the future. It had an apocalyptic feel to it. I gauged this through talk of the Company and the feeling that normal rules didn't seem to apply to those on board ship. They were running from something. What, we are never really told. Every time you felt you were about to fit a piece of the puzzle in the right place, the discourse went off on another tangent.

So, if you're still with me, I shall share with you the themes and imagery that came out of this, in my mind, truly inspiring piece of theatre. It explored the questions of motivation. Why we do anything in our lives. Why do we accept or rebel against authority? Questions like; Who's in command, What makes them so? Why lead? Why follow? The piece posed more questions than provided answers and I never did find out who hit Liz! By exploring the nature of human interaction, we move through dark and light, black and white, success or failure. The writer used shades of suggestion and nuance to the nth degree to tell his story. A story that on account of the sometime archaic language at times felt like you had been dropped smack bang into the middle of a Shakespearian tragi-comedy. Oh yes, there was wry humour within, clever witticisms and sharp repartee, especially between Harry and Liz, not unlike the thrust and parry between the bard's Beatrice and Benedick. The verbal swordplay is often tense and dangerous. You never know whose side to take. You constantly try to make a connection to find some common ground; to sympathise with one of the three. But you like them are, quite literally, all at sea.

The acting throughout was believable and filled with real tension and emotional depth. Congratulations to Mal for creating a strong, female character, in Liz, the no-nonsense, take-charge kind of girl. So, what do we learn about the writer? Well he certainly knows how to challenge both his actors and his audience. In this case, the cast were only given a day to rehearse under the guidance of RSC director, Mathew Smith who, I am reliably informed, is from Londinium.

So to then give such a polished performance of ConPromise which lasted at least an hour was a feat in itself. I found Mal Williamson's unusual approach both engaging and challenging. I look forward to seeing further work from this exciting local writer in the future. Anyone who has an interest in people and persona and the philosophy of life will enjoy this piece. I can see it being staged to great effect at our very own Spring Street Theatre due to the close proximity of the audience to the stage that this theatre lends. I will leave you with the Captain's sound bite by Terry Cavender which I address to Mal - Go on, explain it to us! CAST Ona Kvedaravicius as Liz...........career spy. Terry Cavender as Tyne............. worker and captain. Alan Fellowes as Harry................tired academic spy.

Reviews, Films - The Renegade Writers Recommend...Festive Film Releases by Jane Foster.
	When Addy met Saddy ( U ) This is a tale of two moustaches. A tale of two hardcore dictators, united in mutual follicular admiration. Adolf is a young dictator with a genetic disorder, which means that his moustache extends no further than his Cupid's bow. His secret wish is to own a large, bushy moustache. Read more...

Review of 2003 - By Nick Quantrill
	In the festive tradition of polls, surveys and what have you that all the best magazines and websites carry at this time of the year, you'll have to settle for some things I liked in 2003 and some things I didn't.. 1 Gigolo Aunts - Pacific Ocean Blues 2 Jesse Malin - The Fine Art Of Self Destruction Read more...

Reviews, Films - "Love Actually" (15) by Shelly Dee
	Wednesday night I went to see Love Actually. It is a fantastic feel good movie. Yes, it is Richard Curtis of Four Weddings fame again doing English romantic comedy but it's really good. Hugh Grant, as the man at No 10, gave a typical Hugh Grantesque performance. However, his dance to "Jump" was a real eye opener and raised a laugh or two in the auditorium. Read more...

Reviews, Books - "A Man Named Dave" by Dave Pelzer
	By Darren Sant A Man Named Dave is the third and final book in the memoirs of Dave Pelzer. See this website for reviews of the first two books: A Child Called "It". and The Lost Boy. The first two books cover the authors early years and detail the abuse he suffered at the hands of his Mother. The third book details Dave's life from late teens to the present day. Read more...

Reviews, Books - "The Lost Boy" by Dave Pelzer
	By Darren Sant The memoirs of Dave Pelzer, see my review of the first book on this website. here The first book leaves you with a naïve feeling of satisfaction as Dave finally escapes his cruel mother. However, things are not as cut and dried, as we would like them to be. This second book deals with Dave's life from ages 12 to 18. Read more...

Reviews, Books - "A Child Called 'It'" by Dave Pelzer
	By Darren Sant What can I say about this book? Anyone that knows me well would perhaps describe me as a "sentimental bugger". I am therefore surprised that I did not cry buckets of tears after every page of this book. A Child Called 'It' is the first in a trilogy of books. The books are the memoirs of Dave Pelzer. This first book covers Dave's life from ages 4 to 12. Read more...

Reviews, Books - "Cradle Song" by Robert Edric
	By Nick Quantrill Being a bit of sucker for crime fiction, and more pertinently, hard-boiled private investigator stories, I picked up this book purely on the basis it fulfilled the above criteria and is set in Hull. Upon further investigation it turns out this is the first part of a trilogy set on the mean streets of Hull by Booker Prize nominated Robert Edric. Read more...