Theatre / China Plate
Review: The Road to Huntsville, Tobacco Factory Theatres
The narrator Stephanie Ridings is a writer determined to find out about women who love men that kill. “They’re not my words,” insists writer and solo performer Stephanie Ridings at the beginning of The Road to Huntsville as she recounts the infatuated words of a woman in love with a death-row inmate.
Her research takes her through books, websites and forums – all of which we see on the screen behind her.
But after contacting Sandy Demochette, the sister of a Texan prisoner on death row, Stephanie quickly finds herself embroiled in a family saga that is about to become personal.
is needed now More than ever
Sandy’s brother Jonny has been incarcerated for 14 years, and Stephanie begins to correspond with him as part of her research project. It’s a relationship that becomes more intense as things at home with Stephanie’s partner Stompy become decidedly less romantic.
Soon Stephanie finds herself on a plane to America, being considerably less objective than she claims to be.
Although this show should work as an anti-death penalty play, we are frequently asked to laugh at the inmates and feel cynical about their motives. Even Jonny is subject to mockery, with his bad spelling and clichéd letters, and as a result their relationship is difficult to believe.
This play may not shed much new light on the death penalty, but Stephanie Riding’s talent as a storyteller is clear. No doubt that’s why the play was commissioned by China Plate, Warwick Arts Centre and mac birmingham. Aided by a lighting score that helps to make sense of the changing locations in this one-act play, Stephanie keeps the energy up to the end.
With a weightier script she’d bring real insight to this debate, but as it is, the premise isn’t believable enough to pack much of a punch.
The Road to Huntsville continues at Tobacco Factory Theatres until Friday, March 17. For more info and to book tickets, visit www.tobaccofactorytheatres.com/shows/the-road-to-huntsville
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