Quarter 2 Reviews - 3/8

Two very different pieces here that were absolutely superb.  I Confess by EV Crowe was showstopping.  This was an edge-of-your-seat psychological thriller about Anna and Henry, police officers who have just gotten engaged.  Anna is much younger than Henry.  Very drunk after the engagement party, Anna is obsessed by the fact that four people didn’t come to the engagement who said they would:  Henry’s ex-wife and daughter, his best friend, and one of their work colleagues.  At first, Anna comes off extremely unlikeable as hyper-paranoid.  However, Henry speaks to his ex-wife and daughter.  It seems he’s been a very bad father, but you believe him when he says he’s going to start doing better.  He also gets taken by his best friend on a trip down memory lane (literally), and we get the sense that Henry has done some bad, bad things as an old school copper.  I won’t reveal the ending, but this was great—scary, but great.  Particular kudos go to Lee Ross who continues to prove his radio acting mettle.

After Independence is a fantastic play based on a contemporary stage play, and probably Peter Guinness’ best performance.  White Zimbabweans, Guy (Guinness), Kathleen (Sandra Duncan), and Chibo (Beatrice Robinny) are being given a deal by the new government in the 1990s to sell their farm.  Guy makes courageous arguments against Mr Charles (Stefan Adekwila), the government man who has come to take the land from him.  I think what the play is trying to say is that government was ultimately justified in getting the land back because of the unfair subjugation of black Zimbabweans by the tiny white minority, though Guy’s family and those like him have the pay to the price—Chipo is perhaps the worst off as she has nowhere but Zimbabwe to call home (yet, I suppose the argument goes, why can’t she move into a town?).  Good stuff.