In a warm, padded cinema space is seating for twenty - the interior of Benchtours' stagetruck. A silver screen of venetian blinds suggests the main feature is about to start. 'Star Wars' it is not, but the words crawl just the same with high-flown sentiments about time and space and destiny. 'Episode One: In the Water' projects and fades. A face looks out through the blinds. 'Name's Bett, Patrick Bett, Private Eye.'

Patrick Bett (Peter Clerke) speaks and moves in a world of crime comics and film noir. 'It was just an ordinary night – people always say that.' But his existence is problematic. Where exactly is he? What has happened? Why does he keep coming back to the same place in the story? Accompanying him on this bizarre journey, Catherine Gillard and David Walshe play the many other characters he encounters and re-encounters along the way.

Within the limited space of the stagetruck, technical effects project the interior of a mind trapped between worlds. One moment Bett is in the claustrophobic confines of his office, the next running through infinity at the wrong end of Sugartown. He's drowning in confusion, in water, in his own sense of displacement. The same scenes and conversations keep on repeating like a series of interlinked mobius strips. Bett sees what's happening but can't quite figure out how it's done or where he should end up.

The characters are pulp detective fiction stereotypes that transcend their origins. Shadowy voices of sci-fi and mystical experience intrude. There's something big going on that could destroy everything. The closing words say it all - 'to be continued'.

The stagetruck is a truly original venue. Packed with special effects, a tiny acting space and a potential for disaster it is amazing that it works at all. Sometimes it doesn't. There are technical errors – at one point it sounds as if someone is wrestling with aluminium ladders. However the power of the acting is such that it carries the story forward. The very strangeness of the plot makes the technical errors almost invisible.

This is a show that will grow. Its fantastic story is mindblowing. Convincingly set in a place that should not exist, it becomes a highly-charged examination of the outer limits. The Psychic Detective exudes glamour and mystery. It distils different genres into a heady mix. Set in a creepy surreal universe it provides no answers but is totally engaging theatre.

Cast Credits: (alpha order): Peter Clerke. Catherine Gillard. David Walshe.

Company Credits: Director - Pete Brooks. Script - Helen Smith. Design - Laura Hopkins. Lighting Design - Jeanine Davies. Composer - Tim Brinkhurst. Production Manager - Joanna Kennedy. Technical Production Manager - Sarah Paulley. Video Artist - Monica Alcazar. Scenic Artist - Janice Hart. Design Assistants - Allessandor Zargo, Irina Borrisova. General Manager - Susannah Jeffries. Marketing and Communications Co-ordinator - Fiona McCurdy. Company - Benchtours Productions Ltd. www.benchtours.com

END

(c) Peter Andrews 2007

reviewed Thursday 2 Aug 07 / Stockton International Riverside Festival

Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2008