House Guest

Marina Theatre, Lowestoft

Three murders, a kidnapping and more twists than a snake's tail,

Bruce James Productions has taken this classic Francis Durbridge play to new heights.

Revolving around the kidnap of Robert (Justin Deaville) and Stella (Katie Funk) Drury's nine-year-old son Michael while on holiday with his father in Italy, the complex plot unfolds in the sitting room of the Drury home in England.

Robert arrives home to try to explain to Stella that their son has been kidnapped, but there is no ransom demand.

Instead they are to have an uninvited house guest called Crozier. He must stay for 48 hours when their son will be released.

After two police officers arrive at the house to tell the Drurys that one of the kidnappers has been found murdered the real reason behind the kidnapping becomes clear and the Drurys are left not knowing whom to trust.

The strong cast is well led by Justin Deaville but it is Nick Barclay as creepy Inspector Burford and his sidekick Sergeant Clayton, played by James Campbell, who inject a real feeling of tension into a plot with enough red herrings to suit the most exacting of Durbridge fans.