The Visit is Spanish writer Nieves Lopez's first play written in English,
and it's a claustrophobic drama that is keeping the audience on the edge of
their seats at the Olympus Theatre on Barton Street this week.
The play opens with a young girl telling us her story while a video is
played showing the event that triggers the action about to happen. This worked
really well as a shorthand way of feeding us the back story, and from then on we
were straight into the action. Two sisters, played with genuine warmth and
affection by Monica Crespo and Fleur Hanby, are forced into an absurd situation
with seemingly no way out but for someone to die. The rest of the story is
a game driven by the extremely creepy Isabel Vargas, and the silent but deadly
Lara Hall. The all female cast beautifully underplay their roles, allowing
silences to speak vividly, and creating an extremely creepy and intense feel on
stage.
The simple setting of the piece in a small apartment adds to the
claustrophobic effect, and the audience were carried along with the story, and
kept guessing about how the story would be resolved until the very last
moment.
This is an extremely accomplished piece of work from a Gloucestershire
based writer who is certainly one to watch as her career progresses, and I'm thrilled that she's part of the Olympus Scriptorium writers project.
As a bonus to the play there is an introductory appearance from Eve Loiseau
as Edith Piaf, poignantly setting the mood before the play starts. And, keeping
the audience glued to their seats during the interval was local singer
songwriter Joel Ramsey.
The Visit offers a truly good night out at the Olympus Theatre, which is
giving local talent a much needed space to develop and flourish.
