By Alan Cleaver

Last updated at 13:38, Thursday, 24 June 2010

WHAT do a psychotic king, a gender-confused Cumbrian lord, an agrophobic priest, a vomiting daughter of a saint, an ever-patient lady-in-waiting and a warrior-cum-philosopher have in common?

sharp: Theatre by the Lake’s production of Silence

They’re all in Keswick Theatre’s latest production, Silence. And they’re the colourful characters who light up the Dark Ages in this play by Moira Buffini.

A play set in the Dark Ages sounds... well, dark. But from the outset Silence sets its stall out as a quirky off-the-wall look at a disparate band of travellers making their way from Canterbury to Cumbria.

The writing is as sharp as the wit but it’s obviously the characters that Buffini enjoyed creating and the players certainly enjoy portraying. Silence is the gender-confused Cumbrian Lord played by Vanessa Johnson and it’s a sparkling performance as this unlikely hero/heroine.

Cumbrian-born Silence struggles to comprehend southern ways (it was ever thus!) and eventually teams up with the others to flee Canterbury for the delights of Cumbria.

Hot on their tails is King Ehtelred (Christopher Webster) who gives a masterful performance first as the stay-in-bed King and later as the psychotic tyrant.

Undoubtedly an audience favourite from the cast is the priest Roger (James Hogg) who struggles to instil some spiritual order onto these chaotic times.

And acerbic Saint’s daughter Ymma (Sarah Groarke) also wins the audience over with her “I hate everything” approach to life in the Dark Ages.

There are also strong performances by Eadric (Andrew Grose) and Agnes (Rebecca Elliot) as this ancient road-movie wends its way to a conclusion.

The play may seem overly long in the second half but there’s no doubting the entertainment-value of these characters. It’s a pity this isn’t the first in a series of plays about these wonderful characters as the audience would undoubtedly love to meet them all again.

Director was Stefan Escreet. The play contains strong language and is sexually explicit. Silence runs until November 6.

First published at 16:05, Wednesday, 23 June 2010
Published by http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk