Plays and Players, August 1993, by Jan Whitehead
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A total blackout heralds the opening scene. It is deeply 
disturing and sets the atmosphere perfectly. Minimal light 
gradually falls on three naked, satiated men draped 
languorously over an antique chest. Before being plunged back 
into darkness the dreadful realisation dawns. One man is dead.

Two arrogantly self-confident undergraduates want to experience 
danger. Having perpetrated the perfect murder, they hold a 
bizarre dinner party with the victim's father among the guests. 
The chest doubles as a table and he is seated quite literally 
at the head. Hierarchical hero-worship and homosexuality are 
intrinsic to Patrick Hamilton's superbly crafted play. The 
writer of that other study of fear *Gaslight* was concerned 
with the motivating psychology of the crime. Written in the 
late 1920s he also addressed arguments which remain apposite. 
War legitimises mass killing. So how strong is the moral 
dilemma for Rupert Cadell, lamed in the Great War, when murder 
becomes personalised?

Cadell, drawn in part from Hamilton himself and also perhaps 
from Rupert Brooke, is pivotal to the denouement. Anthony Head 
plays the sardonic young poet with consummate skill. The 
tension generated on the intimate thrust stage is palpable. It 
is impossible to remain detached from the macabre events played 
out by a masterly company. Superlatives seem inadequate for 
Keith Baxter's splendid electrifying production. John Barrowman 
(Brandon) and Alexis Denisof (Granillo) as the murderers have 
every changing mood tightly controlled. Both give hypnotically 
intense performances. Debra Beaumont (Leila) and Simon Chadwick 
(Kenneth) provide innocently frivolous chatter in perfect 
balance. Darkness and light blend with horrifying realism in 
this memorable production.



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                     Bentley's Bedlam
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