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If the tensions of a play can be demonstrated as a line – rising, falling and twisting – ‘Pack of Lies’ must sadly be described as flat.
Ruislip, 1960; we are introduced to the Jacksons, a normal suburban family, whose characters and roles are seemingly apparent within it, conventional for the period and believable. Written by popular playwright Hugh Whitemore, ‘Pack of Lies’ outlines the day to day lives of this family as they host to the covert surveillance of a government group on the lookout for KGB spies in the sleepy London suburbs. Sound exciting? Not so. A production that should have filled the Quay wall-to-wall with tension left the audience bored and impatient.
With interruptions from things such as the phone ringing, or their daughter entering the room, any sort of suspense that had eventually been built heaved a sigh and was knocked back down to earth again. It has to be remembered, of course, that this was an amateur production, and the set – which had obviously had a lot of time and thought put into it – was amazing, but the tedium and slow pace was only halted further by regular time-consuming transitions on and off stage by characters and props. This alone was enough to keep the audience twiddling their thumbs, but it also included dialogue that clearly didn’t have the desired effect, possibly intended to show a contrast between the everyday lives of the Jacksons and the secretive lifestyle experienced by the Krogers, but only furthering to serve a monotonous purpose.
This is not necessarily the fault of the actors; ‘Pack of Lies’ actually included some characters who were very well played, Barbara Jackson’s particularly. Evidently unique, hers was the only one who appeared to have any sort of emotion or depth to any of her scenes (again, perhaps the fault of the writing?), played with great skill and little awkwardness by Anne Eddington.
As a production, it has a simple enough plot to follow, but if, to throw caution to the winds and make a potentially damaging decision, it’s certain that the Sudbury Dramatic Society were a competent group making the best of a stilted script.
Hayley Bean and Hannah Bunting
25 February 2010
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