Gallowglass, Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury - review
Little Joe was moments from heading into the path of a London tube train when his life was saved by mysterious Sandor.
The roles of the pair quickly became clear, at the showing the Shrewsbury Theatre Severn show, as homeless Joe was indebted to Sandor and would act as a Gallowglass, a servant of the chief.
Sandor and Joe come from completely different backgrounds: the educated and manipulative Sandor from a wealthy family, while Joe is homeless, uneducated and gullible.
The plot developed slowly in the first half of play Gallowglass, when it becomes clear that tales of a kidnapped princess which which Sandor was thrilling Joe, were not just stories.
Sandor reveals to Joe that years earlier he had taken part in a kidnapping of model, Nina.
Joe and his colourful foster sister Tilly are dragged into the plan to kidnap Nina for a second time with the aim of demanding £2 million.
Currently Nina lives in a guarded residence with her latest, much older, husband and his many servants, including the recently enlisted driver Paul, who comes with a story of his own.
But things don’t turn out as originally planned and secret intentions are unravelled.
The second half speeds up as the plot unravels and a couple of twists and turns are thrown into the mix, until it all ends with a high-paced scene.
There are a few moments of humour as the personalities clash but the majority of the play was intense, especially as the plot thickened.
Dean Smith, who played Little Joe, and Joe Eyre, who played Sandor, bounced off each other as their characters' relationship forms in the course of the play.
Their performances were very detailed, from body language to facial expressions and accents, if a little over exaggerated at times on Joe Eyre’s part.
The show will continue at 7.30pm each night until Saturday, with matinee performances on Thursday and Saturday at 2.30pm.
