Timothy is a one-act dark, yet amusing, four-handed play.
Annette (Hannah Sinclair-Robinson) has summoned her two long-time friends, Susan (Beth Eyre) and Yvonne (Amani Zardoe) to her cellar to tell them some important news. When the two friends arrive before their host they begin to try to guess what this news could be.
The four-strong cast all show great comic timing. Eyre is excellent and amuses throughout as the ditzy Susan, portraying the character’s nervousness and gullible sides well. Eyre and Zardoe make a good, often amusing, double act. During the play’s opening prickly exchange between the two when the seemingly more confident and straight talking Yvonne manages to knock back Susan’s positivity, Zardoe portrays Yvonne’s superior and sometimes sneery attitude with a mixture of good delivery of dialogue and facial expression. Susan and Yvonne are soon joined by Annette and the three engage in some well written and delivered chat which ends with Annette telling her slightly bemused friends her news which concerns her husband, Timothy. Sinclair-Robinson gives a good performance as the blunt speaking yet colourful Annette. The three ladies engage in further witty repartee before a slightly bemused Timothy (Henry Wyrley-Birch) enters the couples cellar. Wyrley-Birch puts in a decent performance as Timothy showing both his vulnerable yet dark sides well.
David K Barnes and Michael Milne’s simple script is peppered with some laugh-out-loud moments and includes a good twist. Rafaella Marcus’s direction is well-paced and makes full use of the space.
Clancy Flynn’s set design is simplistic and comprises a table and chairs. The main sound for the piece is an intermittent dripping tap which is cleverly played into the story by well-timed delivery by all of the cast.
Review by Karen Pond
Cast and Crew
Annette – Hannah Sinclair-Robinson
Yvonne – Amani Zardoe
Susan – Beth Eyre
Timothy – Henry Wyrley-Birch
Rafaella Marcus – Director
David K Barnes and Michael Milne – Writers
Clancy Flynn – Designer
Beth Eyre and Richard Welbirg – Producers
Yvonne and Susan don’t know what to expect when their best friend invites them to a meeting in her cellar. But when Annette claims her perfect husband is planning to kill her, they find themselves drawn into a tangled web of rash accusation and rising panic. With Timothy hard at work in the kitchen, and dinner time fast approaching, can the three women separate fact from fiction and escape Yvonne and Susan don’t know what to expect when their best friend invites them to a meeting in her cellar. But when Annette claims her perfect husband is planning to kill her, they find themselves drawn into a tangled web of rash accusation and rising panic. With Timothy hard at work in the kitchen, and dinner time fast approaching, can the three women separate fact from fiction and escape with their lives?
The show is written by Offie-nominated playwright David K. Barnes (Birthday Suit, Wooden Overcoats) and Michael Milne, and directed by Rafaella Marcus (I Have A Mouth and I Will Scream VAULT 2018, The Wild Party). Designed by Clancy Flynn, photography by Rosemary Rance.
It stars Hannah Sinclair Robinson as Annette, Amani Zardoe as Yvonne, Beth Eyre as Susan, and Henry Wyrley-Birch as Timothy.
Timothy runs in the Studio, 14-18 March at 18.00, with a matinée on 17 March at 15.00. Running time 55 minutes.
Vault Festival
https://vaultfestival.com