Edward Alderton Theatre | Brimstone and Treacle (October 2006)

Mr and Mrs Bates, a dull middle-aged couple, live with their young daughter Pattie who has been reduced to a vegetable following a car accident several years earlier. Suddenly, and apparently by chance, a polite, clean-cut young man walks into their lives and offers to help Pattie every way he can. But is he her saviour, or the Devil in disguise...?

A collection of furious 'theatre lovers' put pen to paper and sent letters off to the local newspapers when they heard about the Edward Alderton Theatre's latest production, writes Roy Atterbury. [See below ]

Dennis Potter's Brimstone and Treacle is, it seems, 'disgusting', 'nauseating', and 'vile' and a threat to the well-being of youngsters and the faint of heart throughout the Bexley area. The work was commissioned by BBC television in 1976 but was promptly banned by the broadcaster.

When people become so irate about something like a controversial play, it is actually quite easy to solve the problem by either refusing to buy tickets or turning their television to a different channel. But, in this case, before they took action, they might also have considered that the work has now been shown in its entirety on BBC television and was also adapted for the big screen in a film starring Denholm Elliott, Joan Plowright and Sting. Both the television and film versions are available on DVD.

Certainly, far worse scenarios have been screened or performed across the world since the late 1970s. Potter's drama, however, is an odd mixture of theatrical threads that lead towards different interpretations of the action on stage and then seem to cancel each other out.

Without giving too much of the 'plot' away, Mr and Mrs Bates (Desni Hanford and David Oatley) live in a typical suburban house where, for two years, they have cared for their daughter Pattie (Kelly Russell) who is paralyzed in both mind and body following a road accident. The father is a racist atheist who hates all immigrants while the religious mother is worn out by the never-ending care she gives her daughter and her husband's unsympathetic attitude towards Pattie's condition.

All changes, however, when an apparently friendly but mysterious young man (Andrew Kelly) turns up at the house and offers his help. This is when things become difficult and somewhat complex. He is either a sexual predator, a drifter, a conman, an evil sadist, a disciple of Satan, or Satan himself. But just when you decide who or what he is, your conclusion is quickly cancelled out by a new possibility.

Director and designer Mark Campbell brought plenty of tension and atmosphere to the play and handled two unpleasant rape scenes very well. The acting was very good with David Oatley, in particular, being outstanding. However, like several of Potter's plays, the work has moments of great theatrical impact but an open ended, totally obscure, and nevertheless thought-provoking plot.

Edward Alderton Theatre's production of Brimstone and Treacle was a dark and disturbing, yet moving, account of trust and mistrust in a family. Originally banned by the BBC, the play tackles the often taboo subjects of mental disability and rape.

Mr and Mrs Bates (David Oakley and Desni Hanford) are struggling to care for their mentally disabled daughter Pattie, following a car crash two years previously. An exasperated Mr Bates has given up all hope, whereas Mrs Bates believes that only God can help her daughter's recovery.

As if in answer to her prayers, suddenly the seemingly charming and too obliging Martin (Andrew Kelly) appears from nowhere. Claiming to be Pattie's former boyfriend, he soon takes over the running of the house and has the parents literally eating out of his hand.

Cleverly playing off the tension between Mr and Mrs Bates, he reveals their mirror images - he as a xenophobic racist and she as a zealous preacher, before revealing his own sinister motives.

A strong cast dealt admirably with difficult issues. As the bedridden Pattie, Kelly Russell delivered an all too realistic portrayal of mental disability through facial gestures, mute sounds and twisted hand movements.

I have learnt today that our theatre, the Edward Alderton in Bexleyheath, is putting on a play called Brimstone and Treacle by Dennis Potter in October.

I remember when this was banned by the BBC in the 1970s and with good reason. It is about a filthy rape performed on a crippled girl and I am shocked to learn it is being performed round the corner from my home.

There are children and young families living in my street and I dread to think of the effect this will have on them. If the theatre people had any sense, they would pull the plug on this obscene play.

The theatre has done such lovely plays in the past, such as Witness for the Prosecution by Agatha Christie, and The Day After The Fair. My friends and I have thoroughly enjoyed them.

I think they are sick to put this sordid sex play on and I for one will not be watching.

Readers with long memories may understand my surprise and dismay on noticing the Edward Alderton Theatre has seen fit to revive Brimstone and Treacle as part of its autumn programme. This distasteful exercise in 1970s sensationalism, concerning Satanism and sexual abuse, has been kept off television screens on grounds of public decency, as it comes horribly close to justifying rape.

Whatever do our amateur thespians think they are doing, dredging it up 30 years on in Bexley? I would have expected a reputable theatre to be more sensitive and responsible. Leave this "shabby little shocker" to the oblivion it deserves.

Brimstone and Treacle by Dennis Potter

Brimstone and Treacle
by Dennis Potter