This show finished on Wednesday 29 January 2025, and this page is being kept for archival purposes only.
Thrilled to have you for dinner.
Wednesday 29 January 2025
£5/6/7 + £1 on the door
Wed 29th Jan, 7.30pm, Bedlam Theatre
Dan, Bill and Max may have just arrived at the most awkward dinner party in history. They’re alone with their friend Jane’s creepy boyfriend Jerry. She’s nowhere to be seen, but he’s already cooked, and Venison is on the menu. It really would be rude to leave now, and on the plus side the food is delicious. But, in this black comedy about true crime and entertainment nothing is what it seems, and as the temperature rises in the kitchen, so do the tensions in the dining room. Questions around Jane’s absence cause the three friends to confront their perceptions of Jerry. They need to be careful, or getting out of the frying pan might just land them in the fire.
SlashHouse Theatre Company and EUTC cordially invites you to its inaugural theatrical feast. Grab a seat, tuck in, you wouldn’t want to miss the main course! Surely a bite won’t hurt… could it?
Actor (Bill) Ruth Maley
Actor (Dan) Gordon Stackhouse
Actor (Jerry) Thomas Catton
Director/Actor (Max) Minnie Cross
Producer Fiona Forster
Stage Manager Grace Snelham
Tech Assistant Leon Lee
Tech Manager/Lighting Designer Alice Sikora
Tech Manager/Sound Designer Fiona Connor
Writer Huw Turnbull
Tuesday 04 March - By Sukey Moschini Ridge for The Student
Venison, written by Huw Turnbull and directed by Minnie Cross, is a black comedy set around the table of dinner party, which quickly deteriorates in comfort as Dan, Bill, and Max (the guests) gage that their friend Jane’s tardiness (who’s dinner it is) is more likely to be permanent absence…
Tensions continue to rise as Jane’s ominous boyfriend, Jerry, insists they stay, instigating a furtive character analysis of him, fear-fuelled and farcical in equal measure. With a constant carousel of movement and quick-witted rapport, the on-stage action flits between a frenzied examination of the facts at hand, and a repressed angst, as Jerry alternates between cooking and hosting.
The eccentricity of Jerry (played by Thomas Catton) is instantly established as he kicks-off the production, shamelessly dancing around the set, simultaneously setting the ridiculous tone of the play and introducing the importance of its physicalised comedy. We quickly see how developed and different each character is as Dan, a classic yuppie played by Gordon Stackhouse, lets himself in as Jerry cooks. Good structural repetition is created by Catton and Stackhouse with humorous moments, such as Dan’s drinking of preset glasses of wine, refilled by a baffled Jerry, only for them to be drunk again. And again.
The dynamic between characters at this point, despite their lack of direct interaction, only improves as the other guests Bill, played by Ruth Maley, and Max, played by Minnie Cross, arrive. The diversity of accents along with their sheer depth of development and on-stage chemistry generates a rich and well-rounded performance.
As the play progresses, we are drip-fed character flaws of everyone onstage, allowing for a more realistic introduction, and therefore a fairer viewing of each; simultaneously, we are offered greater insight into Jerry, rendering our perception of him as less creepy, and more vulnerable – a misinterpreted social outcast. On hearing “we all indulge in something” – stated in defence but with total physical and vocal certainty – and as we become more exposed to the (ungenerously stated) pitchy mood-swings of the true-crime addicted, stimulant-dependant, and self-righteous aspects of the guest’s natures, we are invited to wonder whether we should view Jerry’s character assassination as the deluded convictions of the lonely, or whether something more sinister is actually at play. What Cross and Turnball have managed to do so skilfully, is give the audience the space to make our own interpretations: nothing is forced and we get a fair presentation of everyone, every plot possibility laid out, allowing for our own conclusions to be formed.
Simply put, Venison was incredibly well written, directed, and performed. One became entirely immersed in the farcical spiralling of the dinner party, liking and disliking the characters in equal measure, generating uncertainty as to who was right and wrong. The on-stage chemistry between each character was joyful to experience: the delivery of each vivacious line was well-paced and clearly enunciated, and every silence was acted in, creating an atmosphere of humorous urgency and transferring the feeling that there was not a moment to be wasted. Turnbull and Cross clearly share a creative process that works, and their SlashHouse Theatre Company is definitely one to look out for.