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Ethical dilemma challenges family loyalties and values at the Bear Pit

Natalie Danks-Smith as Diane and Roger Ganner as David. Photo by Lucy Barriball.


Four Minutes Twelve Seconds by James Fritz, directed by Nicky Cox. A Nix Production. The Bear Pit Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon from 8 to 12 October 2024.

Review by Charles Essex

 

Loyalty to family is quite rightly highly valued.  But can this be superseded by doing what is ‘right’?  A-level student Jack, who never appears, like Abigail of the eponymous Party. However, Roger Ganner as his father David and Natalie Danks-Smith as Diane are thrown into turmoil following an ‘incident’. 

 

Diane admits she still thinks of Jack as a 9-year-old boy and feels that Cara, his ex-girlfriend whom she considers from the wrong side of the tracks, is making allegations, whilst David is all for brushing it under the carpet.


Fareeda Alexandra as Cara and Natalie Danks-Smith as Diane. Photo by Lucy Barriball.

 

We witness numerous scenes in the family’s kitchen as David and Diane disagree on the way forward, initially to protect Jack. However, the clever script leads to a sense that all is not as it seems. Roger and Natalie have great chemistry as a seemingly successful couple but who are blinded by a sense of entitlement and struggle with a growing realisation that they are faced with uncomfortable issues with potentially very serious consequences which could bring their dreams, especially for Jack, crashing down.

 

Artie Dobson is Jack’s best friend Nick. When Diane meets him, hoping to persuade him to confess to his part in uploading embarrassing material on social media, Artie conveys superbly a teenage ineptness and lack of confidence whilst trying to defend himself against the pressure from Diane.

 

It slowly dawns on Diane that Jack is not perfect, whilst David refuses to believe it, in part to hide his own secrets. Natalie and Roger impart the right amount of pompousness as snobbish metropolitan elite parents who think they – and Jack – are above the hoi polloi.


Artie Dobson as Nick. Photo by Lucy Barriball.

 

Fareedat Alexandra gave Jack’s girlfriend Cara a frustration and anger at the injustice of the world to someone in her position. Yet Cara has a maturity and emotional intelligence beyond that of the parents.

 

Director Nicky Cox designed the simple set of a modern kitchen, but with clever use of a staircase, and ominous music in the very brief blackouts between scenes, which kept the tempo and time frame tight.

 

This is a cracking play with a sharp and clever script, with unexpected twists and reveals, and all the cast were on top form.  Nix Production and The Bear Pit deserve full houses for this.

 

Tickets from the Ticket hotline 0333 666 3366 ot visit: www.thebearpit.org.uk 


 

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