Collected Stories, Chaika Theatre, Act Hub, 27 Oct-12 Nov

 This two hander is skilled at creating a small world with big implications- examining the push and pull between mentor and mentee as over the years a young writer and her tutor undergo changes as insecurities emerge and secrets are betrayed. Donald Marguiles script is very much of its era and it's location - the 1990s New York news bleeds off its every pore, and there's certainly some limitations in its slightly condescending writing of the younger woman (I'll be honest and say this is a fairly common trait of baby-boomer writers, shallow writing of anybody not in their generation). It also doesn't really examine the fundamental contradiction that it seems to suggest writers should not appropriate other people's stories as their own, except that Donald Marguiles is very much a male writer telling the stories of two women (and as such he tends to fall into traps like suggesting that most important experience of a woman's life would be her relationship with a man). 

However it's a great vehicle for Karen Vickery to have long monologues about literature, about love, about betrayal and about life. She siezes the chance that a wide-ranging role has to take the forefront of our sympathies, without ever obviously begging for them, as an opinionated, wise but surprisingly vulnerable mentor seeing her young protoge push away from her as the years go by, She also plays very well with Natasha Vickery as the protoge - while the role isn't quite as developed (and to a certain extent is hung out to dry - I'm never quite sure whether Marguiles believes she has any signifiant talent or not), she gives the character slightly more dimension as a young woman seeking to find her place in the world with a little bit of essential writerly ruthlessness about herself and others. 

The simple design, using the traverse style with the audience on two sides of the action makes the stage a laboratory interrogating these two people, drawing out every scripted nuance plus finding a couple that sit between the lines. Luke Rogers directs a tight production that finds both the laughs and the drama. Stephen Still's lighting design has some clever shifts in focus to bring the show together, 

In short this is a strong production of a play that isn't quite as strong, but is worth it primarily for a really great Karen Vickery performance.