Katie Barr
The Tell-Tale Heart is a supernatural murder mystery based on the Victorian short story by Edgar Allan Poe. A seemingly innocent exchange occurs between a man, Clarry Straven, visiting from London and Roderick Bounty, the owner of the lodgings Clarry is enquiring about using. Throughout the play you witness memorable encounters between these characters as their chemistry and interactions slowly build towards an unexpected and mind-boggling end. Katie Barr reviews.
the performance was able to create a sense of unease with cleverly placed acts of wit that led to rounds of unsure laughter
John Goodrum directed and starred as Roderick Bounty throughout the 2-hour piece, successfully pulling off what, in my opinion, is the trickiest genre to portray in the theatres. With no music or dramatic dance scenes to engage the audience’s interest, Goodrum and his colleague David Martin (who played Clarry Straven) had to rely solely on their skill to hold attention – something they achieved the moment the play began. Though being drenched in stereotypes associated with a horror story (stormy evenings, the nervous visitor, the creepy house with an intimidating owner, etc.), the performance was able to create a sense of unease with cleverly placed acts of wit that led to rounds of unsure laughter from the audience.
you are able to infer and feel as an audience a sense of foreboding regarding what is to come
As a viewer who had no previous knowledge of the classic, I relied heavily on the performance of the two leads to communicate the story in an obvious but interesting fashion. Martin successfully showed the change in character from nervousness to paranoia through to murderous violence, so that while there was not an obvious decline in mental state, you are able to infer and feel as an audience a sense of foreboding regarding what is to come. Martin performs many long-winded speeches which he handles amazingly, delivering them clearly but with emotion, showing through his body language and articulation the character’s thoughts and feelings. It is clear throughout that Martin has embodied this character to a point that, for the audience, separation of actor and character is almost impossible.
he captivated the audience with his slow delivery which aided the nervous babbling being heard from Martin
Goodrum’s performance is unlike anything I have seen before. He can be credited with its set design, as well as playing multiple characters within the play with such different personalities that you would wonder if they were played by the same person if it weren’t for the identical appearance. From the moment the lights went up, the stage he held a powerful presence; he captivated the audience with his slow delivery which aided the nervous babbling being heard from Martin. There are times when you wish the delivery would speed up (the babbling filling the silent gaps more than telling the story) but this can be expected, as the tone of the overall play was tense, and Goodrum’s portrayal of the character fitted my expectations of a Victorian horror perfectly. His ability to change his body language and manners between act 1 and the end of act 2 is extraordinary. In the latter, he calmly and seemingly unknowingly winds up Martins to give a confession and further push him to breaking point.
the ticking of the clock and increasing speed of the heartbeat […] worked to increase the pace and instil panic
The set itself, as previously said, is simple, consisting of two beds, a table, chair, and a variety of suitcases that clutters the stage, adding to the mystery by making the audience ask: what is inside? However, the contents further confuse the audience as to what their importance is. The limited set could be a sign of a small production team (as there are only five names on the programme) and their limited resources, or it could be a clever trick to remove distractions and draw you further into acting on the stage. What has been designed is memorable, with a shadow of a large figure looming over the stage and shadows of what appear to be chains surrounding it, adding to the apprehension of the story. The sound, whilst also limited, proved effective. The thunder and storms raging outside fit well into the stereotypical horror being acted, as does the ticking of the clock and increasing speed of the heartbeat, which worked to increase the pace and instil panic not only in the characters but also those sitting in the audience.
Without giving any spoilers, I am disappointed in the ending. The big revelation at the end, whilst not what I ever expected, left me quite deflated. However, this is no fault of the actors and more with the text which, as previously stated, was unknown to me prior to this performance. Overall, the acting was phenomenal, the storyline was standard, and the set – whilst it worked well – could have been developed more to remove any negatives spaces. Whilst I wouldn’t say this was the scariest performance I have ever seen, it was psychologically taxing as I spent the entirety of the play wanting to know more, with a new question being formed as soon as another was answered, and with the ending leaving me pondering the story for the rest of the night. A performance with such a lasting effect is not one that should be missed.
Katie Barr
Featured image courtesy of Alex Watkin. Permission to use granted to Impact. No changes were made to this image.
In-article images courtesy of @royalnottingham. No changes were made to these images.
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