Secret Window, Secret Garden

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The Stephen King novella on which this show is based – a suspenseful story of a writer threatened by a mysterious intruder who accuses him of plagiarism – should offer plenty of opportunities for a thrilling stage adaptation. Unfortunately, they’re not ones that the Lincoln Company takes up in this rather half-hearted production.

The show is admittedly short (despite being billed as 50 minutes, it comes in at nearer 35), but it needs a firmer directorial hand to sort out its confusingly presented plot, its clunky dialogue and its poor, at times indecipherable delivery.

The acting from the youthful cast is at times unconvincing, and for a lot of the time they simply look out of their depth. There’s little sense of menace in the air, and climactic moments are woefully bathetic.

It’s not as if there’s much apart from the acting going on to distract the audience, with no music, a very basic set and minimal use of lighting. But while other companies make a virtue of their low-budget means, in this production it simply feels part of a lack of ambition.

- David Kettle