A WALK down the pitch-black misty lanes of Halse was the perfect start to a suspense-filled evening provided by the highly talented members of the Halse Players as they performed Peter Whalley's thriller 'Dead of Night', directed by Ann Hoole.

As we happily adopted the role of voyeurs in the rural home of Jack Lilley (a dodgy antiques dealer - think Lovejoy with more than a hint of De Niro) we soon learn that Jack has just been acquitted of the manslaughter of a young burglar on the grounds of self-defence.

To 'celebrate' he hosts a late night drink with his long-suffering object of desire, Maggie, and their even longer-suffering neighbours: Dennis, a rather jaded teacher and wife Lynne, a volunteer in an old people's home.

The celebration quickly turned to intrigue and over the course of the next 90 minutes we were treated to a number of tense plot twists and turns.

A production that has only four central characters is an enormous undertaking for any theatre company and requires a real team-effort from cast and director.

With all the action taking place in one setting, the living room, there might have been a danger that the scenes could have been rather static.

Ann Hoole managed this director's dilemma with great skill, creating on-stage dynamics that generated an intimate and almost Woody-Allen-esq improvised feel to proceedings.

The performance of newcomer and acting novice David Wood in the lead role was a revelation.

In the hands of a less skilled actor the role of Jack could easily have been played as a caricature villain, but David played it with an extraordinary level of subtlety and sophistication, giving his performance a level of truthfulness and understatedness worthy of a seasoned professional.

Every good villain needs a muse or is that a moll? And with Heather Davis playing Jack's unsuspecting girlfriend, Maggie, we were very well served.

Heather's performance was wonderfully paced and nuanced. As for the folks next door, Rod Lipscombe gave us a thoroughly enjoyable Dennis, the cuckold from across the way - his distracted yet dogged delivery was the epitome of the 'mild mannered' disillusioned teacher.

Sylvia Haselock, playing his frustrated and permanently inebriated wife Lynne, gave a wonderfully quirky performance full of delightfully eccentric moments.

The small hard-working team of cast and crew provided the packed audiences over three nights a real theatrical treat.

Having now experienced the delights of the Halse Players I look forward to returning next March to watch their production of '84 Charing Cross Road'.

Review by Murray Lindo