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Written by Hugh Whitemore
Huntingdon Drama Club, Cambridgeshire and directed by Dean Laccohee
Reviewed by Chris Avery

How well do you know your neighbours?

When Barbara Jackson is visited by a stranger purporting to be from MI5 and asking permission to conduct a surveillance operation from her bedroom window, she is incredulous. She’s lived in the same suburban street in Ruislip for 20 years, and she knows all her neighbours – some only to greet in the street, some as close friends who constantly pop in for a cup of tea. And when it transpires that the main objects of interest to British counter-intelligence are Peter and Helen Kroger, her desire to do her citizen’s duty comes into sharp conflict with her loyalty to the couple who have been her closest friends for over 5 years.

What would you do?

HDC’s production of Pack of Lies paid close attention to 1960s period details, both in the set and the costumes. Barbara’s (Ann Monk) dowdy cardigans contrasted well with the “slacks” and French pleat hairstyle worn by Helen (Kelly Mason), while the succession of pullovers sported by Michael Black as Barbara’s husband Bob was spot on. Peter (Ronald Stevenson) and Helen demonstrated convincing Canadian accents, while the Jacksons’ speech reproduced the stilted interchanges which passed for conversation amongst British couples of the time. It was left to the Jacksons’ teenage daughter Julie (Jenny Bingham) to breeze in and find a willing accomplice in Helen to bring some fresh air into her parents’ lives. The developing relationship between these two was sensitively played and Julie’s outburst at the end when she realised the truth about the Krogers’ activities was both shocking and moving.

While the play got off to a brisk start with good cueing and plenty of movement, unfortunately it slowed during subsequent scenes between Barbara and Bob, when a greater variation of vocal pitch and delivery would also have helped to keep the action vibrant. Stewart (Scott Hutchison) the “civil servant” fell into a similar speech pattern, and consequently some moments of tension and revelation were, to an extent, lost. However, the device of introducing each scene with a different character giving their view of the story so far worked well, teasing our interest and giving rise to speculation about where the story was going next. Scene changes were well covered by appropriately unsettling music, and the sound of a radio transmitter of the time formed a good introduction to the play. Jane Crittenden and Emma Hill gave good support as Thelma and Sally, colleagues of Stewart in the surveillance operation, and their conversations with Barbara demonstrated the latter’s rising concern about the fact that while her friends were betraying their adopted country, she, in her turn, was betraying not only them but also her daughter.

This interesting play certainly achieved its director’s ambition to provide a few talking points for its audience as it left the theatre. Congratulations to Dean Laccohee and his cast, and to Huntingdon Drama Club for maintaining its record of presenting challenging material well performed.