O my brothers, what a horror show!

The scene was set in the enclosed space of the Basement rehearsal room. and the production definitely succeeded in making the audience feel uncomfortable.

On entering the eerily lit blue room, Georgie, played by Becky Hansell, started following me, wearing heavy military boots and swinging a huge baseball bat aggressively.

It’s fair to say my pace quickened considerably running towards the safety of the audience seats.

The minimalistic set featured empty milk bottles hanging from the ceiling – an effective and resourceful adaptation of the infamous Korova Milk Bar from the 1971 film.

The lit-up centre piece was particularly impressive and served well in helping to convey the menacing undertones of the play.

Who drank all of that milk?

Sam Forbes’ charismatic performance honestly and flawlessly depicted the sinister sociopath Alex. His engagement with the audience was exceptional, drawing us into the character’s psyche and making us feel like one of his “droogs”.

His towering height and threatening demeanor added to his intimidating persona.

A brilliant performance from Sam

The talented “droogs” (Becky Hansell, Josh Bluer and Tom McCann) were all equally as threatening.

Particularly commendable was the success of multi-roling – every actor changing their accent, posture and facial expressions with great confidence and credibility when taking on a new persona. The whole cast was excellent in this respect.

Receiving a telling-off

Unfortunately, during the beginning half of the play the production team appeared to have some difficulties with sound. But rest assured this did not distract from the play itself (and we all know you can never really rely on technology these days anyway). The projected videos onto Alex’s face as part of the horrifying Ludovico Technique were incredibly effective.

The audience also encountered vomiting, dribbling, rape and bludgeoning. Pillows were bashed behind a table to depict the killing of an old man. At times the stage fighting didn’t actually seem staged – it was like the cast were actually flooring each other, with one audience member even covering her eyes in horror. Nonetheless, nothing distracted from maintaining the dark, dystopian feel of the production.

Ready to attack

Although I was slightly scared for my life, I enjoyed the performance. The whole team deserve a nice glass of milk to reflect on their achievement.