Inside Job - Darlington Civic Theatre, Teesdale Mercury

Inside Job - Darlington Civic Theatre

Jul 23, 2010

IT was twists and turns all the way at Darlington Civic Theatre provided by Inside Job by Brian Clemens. The name, Brian Clemens, may not mean much to you but as the writer of television shows such as The Avengers, The Professionals and more recently Bugs the playwright has the pedigree for this to be a top class evening.

Set in a converted Spanish farmhouse in an isolated area a mile or so from Marbella we meet Larry, played by ex Emmerdale heartthrob Matt Healy, as he is persuaded by Suzy, Michelle Morris, to steal diamonds from her husband Alex, played by another ex Emmerdale star Christopher Villiers. The plot soon changes to the planning of murders with some obvious double crossing and some very predictable conclusions but also with an impressive number of twists thrown in.

The main problems I found were that it does become quite repetitive as they go over the small details of each possible crime several times and that they couldn't really decide if it should be a straight thriller, comedy or farce as they end up with a culmination of all three, which didn't really work. That said the acting was faultless with Matt Healy the pick of the three.

Inside Job can be seen until Saturday 24^th July

A J Harrison