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The Demon Box

Written by Steve Hennessy
Directed by Sam Berger

13 Nov 2007 to 24 Nov 2007
Alma Tavern Theatre, Bristol

Part of the 'Lullabies of Broadmoor' sequence* which also includes 'Wilderness', 'The Murder Club' and 'Venus at Broadmoor'.

* All four plays can be staged and seen separately.

1872. Inside Broadmoor. Inside the black box of the theatre. Inside the head of Richard Dadd.

On a trip to Egypt, the great Victorian artist Richard Dadd believed that he had been contacted by the god Osiris. Upon his return, at the god's bidding, he murdered his father. He spent the rest of his life in Bethlem and Broadmoor.

While there he spent nine years working on his eerie masterpiece 'The Fairy Feller's Master Stroke'. In 1872 he was given the job of renovating the theatre at Broadmoor.

Dare to look inside.
Open the box.

'The Demon Box' was the fourth Theatre West / Stepping Out Theatre Co-production.

The complete text of this play featured in the Winter 2008 issue of 'Plays International' magazine along with photos by Ian Wilmot.

A video of this production in a special souvenir case is available from Stepping Out Theatre Company priced at £10 (includes package and posting).

Cast

Alan Coveney - Richard Dadd
Richard Haighton - John Coleman
Oliver Millingham - Dr. William Chester Minor
Elexi Walker - Ariel

Crew

Director - Sam Berger
Assistant Director - Chris Loveless
Design - Danielle Bassett
Lighting Design - Frazer Riches
Costumes - Ann Stiddard
Technician - Martin Lee
Sound - Hoxa
Photography Ian Wilmott

Reviews

"Skilfully running a wealth of documentary material through the filter of his own fevered imagination, Hennessy paints a vivid and arresting picture of the tortured state of mind of Dadd (who brutally murdered his own dad because the god Osiris told him to). "
     Rina Vergano, Venue Magazine

"Absorbing and atmospheric . ., the dramas are like distorted images of each other, as they juggle with issues such as responsibility and redemption and the relationship between illegitimate individual acts of murder and publicly sanctioned mass killing. The result is a piquant mix of witty Gothic ghoulishness and serious moral questioning"
 Paul Taylor, The Independent