Three timelines weave a pathway to The Croft
- ann-evans
- 18 hours ago
- 3 min read
Original Theatre presents The Croft – a thriller by Ali Milles. Original direction by Philip Franks. Directed by Alastair Whatley, at The Belgrade Theatre, Coventry from 20 – 24 May 2025.
Review by Ann Evans.
One thing is for sure regarding The Croft – it wouldn’t be your number one holiday destination choice, which is what Laura (Gracie Follows) and her older lover Suzanne (Caroline Harker) have gone for in the hope of spending some quality time together.
The couple have travelled to the Scottish Highlands, to Laura’s parents’ remote old crofter’s cottage to get away from the everyday demands of Suzanne’s two teenage sons and a husband who isn’t quite off the scene yet. But almost immediately a phone call from home, which immediately fails to connect has Suzanne in a panic convinced her sons need her, which doesn’t please Laura too much.
The audience already know that they’re in for a few other interruptions as we’ve already glimpsed the ghost of Enid, (Liza Goddard) a woman linked to Laura and the cottage in a thread that goes back to the 1800s.
But back to Laura and Suzanne, the minute they try to snatch a romantic moment together, in walks David (Gray O’Brien) a local man known to Laura, and clearly there’s some animosity between them. He however seems more interested in Suzanne, and they spend quite some moments staring into each other’s eyes after being introduced.
The reason becomes clear when we learn that David had an affair with Laura’s mother, Ruth, before she died of cancer – which Laura never really forgave her mum for, even though we see later that there’s no love lost between Laura and her dad (Simon Roberts) either. And the reason David is staring at Suzanne is because she bears an uncanny resemblance to Laura’s mum, Ruth. In fact, in the scenes featuring Ruth – when she was alive, Ruth is played by Caroline Harker (Suzanne).
I hope you’re keeping up, because there’s a third storyline mingled into the fibre of these old walls. Back in the 1800s, when Enid was around – in the flesh, she took in a young woman – Eileen, who was having a child out of wedlock. This displeased the Laird who had stirred up anger amongst the community, and the scenes involving Eileen (Gracie Follows) and Enid (Liza Goddard) centred around Eileen’s desire to leave and Enid’s desire to defiantly stay put.
So, we have a real entanglement of storylines that drift by one another, often quite chillingly, with faces at the window, candles blowing out, lights flashing, loud bangs and creepy sound effects – and a nice touch of the rocking chair rocking when no one is sitting in it. The set itself with the lighting and sound effects of the ocean and the weather are excellent. The acting too, especially the leading ladies is faultless. But with so much going on, and story threads that leave you wanting to know more, it’s all a little frustrating and definitely raises a variety of talking points.
The common theme, I suppose revolves around family, relationships – and sadly, the break-up of relationships. As for Laura and Suzanne, this isn’t a match made in heaven, and like all the characters involved in this hapless crofter’s cottage, there were no happy endings for any of the three stories woven into this play.
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