Rathmore’s Whippet

Rathmore’s Whippet by Victor Manley is a play about two men holding a woman hostage in a cellar as someone or something closes in on them. “Two nameless men escape urban disorder in a dingy basement,” says the press release. “With them, an unknown female captive is held against her will as the outside world looks increasingly uncertain.”

The trouble is, it’s been so badly directed, it’s hard to know what’s going on a lot of the time. There’s a character who is plainly meant to be psychopathic, but comes across as more of a friendly cousin. His mate doesn’t seem to have a clue what he’s got himself into. Only Rhian Marston-Jones as the hostage appears to have any real grip on the situation she finds herself in. She is asked to play mounting fear for about 40 minutes and does a creditable job of it – making the best of her misogynistically written character.

There is a potentially engaging Groundhog Day element to the play. But it’s hard to access. The set wobbles embarrassingly and that seems an apt metaphor for this production.

– Craig Singer