Set in dreary Middle England, a young American tourist with a Britney Spears fixation succumbs to the advances of her mysterious employer. Amateur private investigator Nigel Cunningham goes in search of clues of the girl’s disappearance and uncovers a beguiling story of sex, cults, goat- gods and Midsummer’s night frolicking. Cunningham, an aspiring Columbo/ Poirot crossover detective, leads the narration, executed with a flashlight photo back and forth journey through his suppositions and the real events. This type of timeline navigation can often be disjointed, but here we are treated to a compelling plotline and original tale, well thought out and presented utilising every prop and effect available.
Our tourist, Sarah, begins work at a flower shop, watched over with increasing interest by new age weirdo boss Capri, his passive white witch wife, his two undersexed love struck staff and his nymphomaniac secretary. Over the course of the summer solstice she becomes drawn into a circle of pagan intrigue and sexual awakenings. After the event, Cunningham tracks down the secretary and attempts to solve the girl’s disappearance, but stumbles as his fascination with the secretary increases.
The play is full of fine and daring performances from a youthful cast, which really draw the audience into the scenes they set. The solstice dance is spectacular, and the whole play ends with a four way real time tour de force that creates the real intensity hinted at in the title. The cast seem to relish highly sexually charged atmosphere, and the performance is perfectly set to a wicked and live war- drum sound track. Neurochasm’s run of Panic at the C Venue has now finished, but Hairline looks forward with interest to their return next year.
4/5
Simon Ferguson
