St Albans’ Company of Ten are Dead Guilty

DIRECTOR Tony Bradburn has faced some interesting challenges with the Company of Ten’s next production, Dead Guilty, which runs from next Friday, May 18, until Saturday, May 26, at the Abbey Theatre in St Albans.

Dead Guilty is a psychological thriller about guilt and obsession which doesn’t give up its secrets until the final shattering moment.

It centres on graphic artist Julia who is badly injured in a car crash – the same car crash that kills her business colleague John.

Housebound and depressed, she struggles to come to terms with her injuries and the unwanted attentions of John’s excessively solicitous widow.

From the prolific pen of Richard Harris, the author of Outside Edge and the Evening Standard Award-winning Stepping Out as well as episodes of A Touch of Frost, The Sweeney and The Avengers, it has given Tony plenty to think about.

He said: “The character of Julia has to negotiate the action initially in a wheelchair and subsequently on crutches. Unless you have experience of this, you have no idea how much you need to adapt your movement to cope with this new situation.

“Chrystalla Spire, the actress undertaking the part of Julia, has had to spend a good deal of time getting used to the restrictions imposed and working on manoeuvring the wheelchair.

“It has had implications for the set as well but our designer David Allison has brought an innovative approach to the staging creating a design that is aesthetically appealing and theatrically practical.”

Tickets for Dead Guilty, which starts at 8pm, are available from the box office on 01727 857861 or online at www.abbeytheatre.org.uk