The House Amongst the Willows – Hope Street Theatre

Robert Scott’s The House Amongst the Willows is a psychological thriller which explores the darkness which can hide in seemingly happy families and the inevitable tragic shadow that falls over a relationship with someone whose previous partner has passed away. Directed by Mark Holland and Gabi Castro, this is a tense and dramatic show with plenty of twists and turns around the eponymous copse of willow trees out front.

The play opens with Fletcher (Sab Muthusamy) and his fiancée, Sadie (Josie Harrison) arriving at the holiday home of Paul (John Michael Rooke) and Erin (Sarah Howes-Dixon), who are Fletcher’s dead wife’s Laura’s parents. Sadie is understandably nervous over meeting Laura’s parents, but Fletcher is very keen for the weeklong break to go well as he is closer to Paul and Erin than to his own parents.

Unfortunately, Fletcher’s life since Laura’s passing has been a little more complicated than he let either Sadie, or Paul and Erin know. Kelly (Rafaela Dias), Fletcher’s erratic and threatening Parisian ex has turned up in the village and is harassing Fletcher with intimidating visits and malicious pranks. Fletcher asks good friend and village resident, Josh (David Williamson) for his help thinking that as a former policeman he may be able to quash Kelly’s behaviour, but as things begin to spiral out of control, Josh begins to grow closer and closer to Sadie, sparking Fletcher’s jealousy over their increasingly intimate friendship.

The set shows a cosy family environment, with sofa, dining table, record player and pictures of Laura. The family ownership of the holiday home and the tangible memories of Laura staying there, rather than setting the piece in a rented accommodation or hotel, pushes Sadie to the boundary of the family from the start, creating a nice sense of her intruding into a stable environment even though she is in fact behaving perfectly.

The haunting piano melody used to open the piece, together with Laura’s nervousness, contrasts well with Fletcher’s easy-breezy dialogue. His tongue in cheek jokes over Sadie not marrying him for money when she sees the size of Paul and Erin’s house create a nice level of tension particularly as they start to go a little too far.

Lighting is very cleverly used to illustrate mood and increase tension with both colour washes and different degrees of fade utilised intelligently. There were unfortunately some opening night teething difficulties with tech, and this is particularly unfortunate when so much careful thought has been given to lighting by Gabi Castro, and the cast are to be credited with continuing with their performances unhindered during these hiccups.

Howes-Dixon has excellent presence and dominates the stage each and every time she is on it. Switching between a warm, maternal attitude to conniving and malevolent force seamlessly, her contribution to the dramatic tension of the show is imperative to the overall feeling of dread built throughout the performance.

Dias’ performance is also excellent, and she is able to control the pace of the piece during each of her appearances. Her detached attitude towards the violence of her characterisation creates a wonderful sense of horror and panic, and her exchanges with Muthusamy are electrifying.

The directors have made the interesting decision to minimise the sense of chemistry between Muthusamy and Harrison, which increases the feeling of trepidation when their relationship begins to fracture but does make it difficult to visualise what the other characters are seeing when they refer to Sadie clearly being besotted with Fletcher, as there is very little sense of any genuine affection between them. Muthusamy’s reactions to Dias are the exact opposite, with their relationship, though over and apparently toxic, feels far more authentic when they are interacting. The chemistry between Harrison and Williamson is also very good, making it easy to see where Fletcher’s jealousy over their overfamiliarity stems from.

Muthusamy’s increasingly erratic behaviour is very well done and feels natural and completely within the characterisation he has created. Flashes of violence and careful use of vocalisation increase the horror of the piece and it is easy to see how Fletcher appears to the other characters and why they have so much care and love towards him.

The final scenes of the piece do lose pace a little with over-explanation and detailed exploration of the events of the story slightly minimising the brilliant tension which has been built up. The drama could have been maintained to a higher degree of unease which would have increased the level of fear felt over the ambiguity of the conclusion of the play. 

The House Amongst the Willows is a brilliant portrayal of the abuse and terror which can occur behind closed doors and the impact that secrets and lies can have on familial and romantic relationships. Very well performed throughout with clever use of tech and set, there is plenty of mystery which keeps you guessing and lots of fear-inducing moments which will genuinely make your blood run cold.

The House Amongst the Willows is being performed again at the Hope Street Theatre on 30 November. Tickets are available here https://ticketquarter.co.uk/Online/default.asp?doWork::WScontent::loadArticle=Load&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::article_id=84D3C670-11F5-4D8B-AA23-D087F342D5A8&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::context_id=B89C6273-50F8-474C-8045-9C34E1F7E0B1   

Reviewer: Donna M Day

Reviewed: 29th November 2022

North West End UK Rating: ★★★★