Menier Chocolate Factory – until 17 November 2018
Reviewed by Adam Craddock
5*****
As a young man I cannot speak from personal experience on what the Cold War was like, but from what the history books say and from family stories I hear that it was a time of prolonged suspense, constantly not knowing what tomorrow would bring in terms of world affairs and a time of curtain twitching, of not knowing who was listening in if you had something worth listening to. “Pack of Lies” perfectly embodies this era in a beautiful two act show, shedding light on the true story of a scarily normal family whose life was torn apart by this spy era. With a brilliant book and some fantastic direction, this show has all the tools it needs to succeed at The Menier Chocolate Factory. And by gosh it does!
Alasdair Harvey and Tracy-Ann Oberman play well as the real life super spy couple Helen and Peter Kroger, with a fantastic sense throughout of the dagger behind the smile and some brilliant interplay between the couple. Oberman in particular was extremely strong, with a fabulous sense of cockiness and power over the events of the play. Her character really got under my skin and made me squirm at times when she was questioning Barbara at the end. Macy Nyman was strong as Julie, with a beautiful fragility to her character and a brilliant sense of innocence being played throughout. Jasper Britton performed well as Stewart, the spy chief, with a great feeling of control to his character. Sia Dauda and Natalie Walter also performed well as Sally and Thelma respectively. However, the standout performances of the night have to go to Chris Larking and Finty Williams as Bob and Barbara Jackson. Larkin was fabulous as this shy and timid man, struggling to maintain his role as head of the family in this awful situation, with a beautiful physicality in this role and I have to say, the way he played his relationship with his on stage wife was truly touching. Finty Williams was equally as beautiful as her husband, with a brilliant homely motherly feel to her character and a great slow burn of a performance up to her climactic breakdown at the end. This was a truly beautiful performance and one of the best I’ve seen in a long time.
In terms of the more technical side of things, I think this show has one of the cleverest sets I have seen in a long time, working well with its limited space and cleverly building the entire house. The lighting was good and there was some excellent direction on display in this piece.
It’s not often I get to say this when I am writing a review so this is a big thing for me to say, but this was a truly faultless performance, one of the best dramas I have seen in many years and I expect I won’t see another as good for many more years to come. Well done to all, it was fantastic!