The Winterling
Theatre by the Lake, Keswick
City gangsters dropped into the rural wilds of Dartmoor is the setting for Jez Butterworth’s The Winterling, which captures the audience in a web of intrigue.
The staccato lines and musical use of words is mesmerising, and together Henry Devas as Patsy, Alan Suri as Wally and Liam Smith as West are like the three tenors, playing the lines like a three part aria. At points the meaning of the words is secondary to the sounds they make. This is a beautiful play to listen to as well as watch.
The smooth, sophisticated city boys juxtaposition with the wild man of the moors, Draycott played by James Duke leaves the audience to decide which is the most cruel – the natural world of killing to eat or the urban culture of cruelty for control.
As the second scene goes back 12 months, clues are scattered throughout as to how we got here– like a tantalising cryptic crossword you just can’t put down.
Jennifer English as the feral Lue adds a third layer of mystery on the plot.
This thriller keeps you on the edge of your seat, and questioning everything which has gone before.
If you enjoyed Broadchurch and other recent TV classic dramas get yourself to the theatre to see this production – when you can feel the actor’s breath in a tense scene there’s no experience like it.
Karen Morley
The Winterling runs at theatre by the Lake Studio until November 5.
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