Sun Trap
Sun Trap
Posted: 25 Jun 2010
Sun Trap
Gala Theatre, Durham
Two North East couples swap Tyneside for Tenerife in search of a dream which turns into a nightmare in Ian Skelton’s play Sun Trap which premieres at Durham’s Gala Theatre.
Alan (Mark Stratton) has lured Don (David Lonsdale) into helping him sell this dream to other would be émigrés looking for grass that is greener abroad. The pair are looking to tempt punters to invest in Spanish property and the prospect of a lifestyle based on sun, sea, sangria and …golf.
The dreams of the women – Steph (Cheryl Dixon) and Paula (Tracy Gillman) – are simply to be loved. Steph craves attention while Paula longs for her daughter left at home but their ambitions are ultimately as distant as Alan and Don’s business success.
Directed by Simon Stallworthy who has directed all 14 of the Gala’s in-house productions, Sun Trap offers a word of warning for anyone tempted to swap Seaburn or Whitley Bay for a fantasy life as remote as a winning lottery ticket.
But for me, the play falls between two stools. Potentially either a bawdy comedy with plenty of scope for laughs or a forthright expose of sharp business practice exploiting naïve investors, in the end I felt it was neither.
Rob Mason
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