The Seven Year Twitch

by David Lewis

Barnes Community Players at Old Sorting Office, Barnes

Until 2^nd November 2013

The title of The Seven Year Twitch may suggest a light frothy comedy, but it is far more than that, cleverly and neatly written, it combines sharply observed wit with thought provoking serious theatre.  There is a nod towards farce and another towards pathos.

This many-faceted play uses a witty matrix of conversations to illustrate the all-too recognisable characters’ failing personal relationships, using the unlikely, but naughtily effective, allegory of a birdwatcher’s obsessive pastime.

Director Susan Conte’s fifth show with Barnes Community Players brings together some of the best of the group’s actors and brings out the very best from them. Her concise and elegantly symmetrical setting forms a loom onto which she weaves together the unlikely warp and weft of belly-laugh and pathos.

This production, the play’s premiere away from the professional stage, packages two for the price of one: an insightful play with a thoroughly entertaining evening’s show.

Mark Aspen