Haunted, Richmond Theatre

The curtain came down to wolf whistles and rapturous applause last night as Edna O’Brien’s Haunted starring Brenda Blethyn and Niall Buggy opened at Richmond Theatre.

Haunted is an intriguing and funny play. The story revolves around married man Jack Berry who has a chance encounter with Hazel, a local girl who works in a second-hand clothes shop. Presumptuous Mr Berry soon becomes obsessed with the captivating Hazel and invites her to give him elocution lessons, oiled by the temptation of free garments for the shop from his wife’s wardrobe. Hazel, completely deluded by Jack’s wild stories, is under the illusion that Mrs Berry is dead. However, she is indeed alive and kicking and wants to know where all her prized dresses and paraphernalia are disappearing to.

Haunted tackles some weighty and difficult themes: obsession, lust, unfaithfulness and the changing nature of love and relationships. In the hands of a clumsy writer this could be a disaster. However, acclaimed Irish author Edna O’Brien needs no introduction. She has won countless honours including the Kingsley Amis Award and a special Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009.

With works like The Country Girls she has demonstrated time and again a lightness of touch and subtlety that effortlessly encapsulates the most complex of ideas in witty dialogue and wonderful characterisation. Her characters seem so very real and capable of reaching out to an audience with their fears, hopes and dreams.

It would be impossible to find any more fitting actors for the roles of Mr and Mrs Berry than Niall Buggy and Brenda Blethyn. The quality of their performances was nothing short of a tour de force. Both played their parts with such passion and verve that the audience became completely engrossed in the unfolding story. Mention also needs to be made of Beth Cooke who played Hazel with great conviction.

Haunted is touching, poignant and funny play – don’t miss it.

Liz Colbert