likeable and somewhat moving. The character of Yelena is one who arrives at the house with her older husband in all innocence but becomes the object of desire between two men. Sarah Howsam played this part very eloquently from being untroubled to a person who cannot give in to her own desires and ultimately pleads to leave so there is no more hurt. It must not be easy being on stage with very experienced actors but seventeen-year-old, Kitty Hinde made an impressive appearance as the professor’s daughter Sonya more than held her own on stage. She had presence, confidence and nice nuance in her characterisation. The supporting cast, Jo Moor as knitting Nanna, Chris Glynn as Telgin, Ian Person as Serbryakov and Margaret Williams as Mariya all had their own small stories to tell throughout the production and brought a little more comic relief. The use of breaking the fourth wall and directing speeches directly at the audience is, at times, frowned upon by theatre critics, but here it worked superbly by the main characters. The audience got a better understanding of the person. The lighting and sound by Chris Broomhead, Chris Burnett and David Oliver, while not seeming to be over complex did effectively create a good ambience for the action to take place. The twittering of birds was quite relaxing before the swell of emotions from the actors. The set, designed and built by Josh Holden, Lee McGregor, Ian Wilkinson and a team of others, was very symbolic in my view. There were nods to the ecological significance stressed in the play. The back wall showing a forest, while branches looked like they were growing into the room. The distressed state of the room, and peeling wallpaper, echoed the dereliction and decay of people who had stayed too long, surviving in what they perceived as an idyllic existence. The lack of care to the walls reflected the absence of developing the person that could become, “a footnote in your father’s life”. The stark, dreary brown, basic furniture also added to this impression. Someone had been very thoughtful in autumn to collect brown leaves to scatter around the periphery. This, to me, brought the room and forest together in the set.
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