Director: Wils Wilson
Reviewer: Sara Jackson
This is the second piece to be presented by North East Theatre Consortium after Pub Quiz in 2008 and the company is aiming to produce and tour new writing from the North of England.
Queen Bee is set in an isolated house and tells the story of Angel, an agoraphobic and her elderly housekeeper Eusaphia. A psychiatric nurse called Ruth turns up out of the blue claiming she has been sent to help Angel. However the appearance of a strange man in the garden causes the women to barricade the door and they are locked inside together.
Each character is carrying it's own secret which comes to light when they begin to tell scary stories to each other, suspicion builds until the piece reaches a final and chilling conclusion.
Director Wils Wilson expertly guides the cast through a story which twists and turns constantly, keeping the audience on the edge of it's seat. I have never seen an audience so engrossed, there wasn't a single grunt or shuffle in seat for the entire two act play. The cast give wonderful compelling performances, frightening the audience in one moment and making us laugh out loud the next.
The set was covered with books and props which led to a couple of accidents, all of which were dealt with perfectly by the cast. In addition to a recorded sound track were sound effects were created from the stage in some very inventive ways which were fascinating to watch.
Margaret Wilkinson has truly written a fantastic play which is so gripping that it keeps you laughing, frightened and guessing right up to the very final frightening finish.I cannot recommend this piece enough and hope that everybody will run out to buy tickets for it quickly. It deserves to be seen by as many people as possible.
This is the second piece to be presented by North East Theatre Consortium after Pub Quiz in 2008 and the company is aiming to produce and tour new writing from the North of England.
Photo by Keith Pattison
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