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Newry Drama Festival continued on Friday night with Sharon Pollock’s Blood Relations performed by County Kildare drama group, Insight Theatre Company.
The play was based on the life of Lizzie Borden and the subsequent murders of her stepmother and father for which she was tried.
Daughter Lizzie although acquitted in court was the only suspect ever charged.
The stage as well as the furnishings was decorated with white cloths and Adjudicator Michael O’Hara commented “I think it was striking and it was even giving us a touch of the surreal, so in a sense whenever the plot was unfolding you were saying, ahhh yeah there is a Hitchcock feel to this, maybe” but pointing to how he thought the cast could have made more use of the stage he added “Don’t confine yourself, don’t restrict yourself when you’ve gone to the trouble of creating a set which will allow a lot of movement”
Commenting on the actress who played Lizzie Borden, the plays central character ‘She had a nice presence, and perhaps a wee bit more of command and presence and character needed at the start”
Summing up the Adjudicator said “They took aboard a difficult tricky piece, a production with plenty of potential, some of which can still be realised but they did have a very very good go at this play”
