Clanstow

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Clanstow is an original stage production written by Jack Cummins, who also produced, co-directed and starred in its debut production. It was first performed by Glassroom Theatre Company, an amateur theatre group in Adelaide, South Australia in March 2018, during the Adelaide Fringe Festival.. Set in the titular small town, Clanstow revolves around the murder of a schoolgirl at a party and how it affects various school students and their parents. School student Claire Warren then discovers that her fellow classmate Nick Waters is a psychopath who is trying to pin the murder on her friend. The play was awarded the Young Playwright's Award by the State Theatre Company of South Australia in 2017.

Plot

In the town of Clanstow, school students Kyle James, Claire Warren and Amelia Simpson welcome back their friend, Nick Waters, after a holiday in Queensland. They attend a party held by their obnoxious classmate Jason Davidson, whose gentle sister Ellie is in a relationship with Kyle. Also attending the party is Amelia's older boyfriend, Adrian Williams, who is close friends with Jason's ex-girlfriend, Olivia Dinon.

At the party, Nick questions Adrian over an incident that occurred a few months prior, which resulted in Adrian killing a school student while driving under the influence. Shortly afterwards, Claire meets the socially awkward Nancy Raleigh, who has recently returned to school after being committed to a psychiatric hospital. Nancy seems to recognize Nick and is apprehensive of him, fleeing the party abruptly. Nick manipulates Jason into believing that Olivia and Adrian are romantically involved, leading Jason to assault Adrian. Later on in the night, the police are called into the party following a noise complaint, at which point Amelia discovers that Olivia has been murdered in the bathroom.

Tensions begin to arise at school following the murder. Jason desperately tries to distance himself from the event while Olivia and Amelia are dedicated to keeping Olivia's memory alive. Complications also arise between Amelia and her strict father, Michael, who becomes overbearingly protective and forceful over Amelia following the incident. Kyle's mother, Lynn, is also struggling to connect emotionally with her son following the death of her husband the year prior.

A series of secrets unravel in the wake of Olivia's death. Nick coerces Jason into admitting that he murdered Olivia, claiming that he got into a physical fight with her and blacked out, only to wake up with the torchlight that was used to kill her in his hand. Nick offers to help Jason from evading prison by offering to frame Adrian instead. When Kyle discovers that Claire and Adrian have been involved in an affair, he reveals this information to Nick, who recognizes how this secret can add suspicion to rumours that Adrian was also involved with Olivia.

Nick attempts to persuade Claire into revealing the truth about her relationship with Adrian to the police. A suspicious Claire then discovers that Nick has planted Olivia's bracelet, a piece of evidence the police are looking for, in Adrian's apartment and narrowly manages to avoid the police who are called to search the house. Claire then speaks to Nancy who reveals that Nick's claims that he was in Queensland over the holidays were false - instead, he was committed to the same psychiatric ward she attended. His psychopathy was brought on by the death of his girlfriend Leanne Pearce, who was the schoolgirl killed by Adrian in the car accident. She reveals that Nick discovered Nancy's relationship with a psychiatrist at the ward and blackmailed the psychiatrist into releasing him and Nancy out of the ward.

Claire confronts Nick with the knowledge she has learned and reveals she plans to go the police with the bracelet. In order to stall her, Nick forces Jason into revealing to Amelia the truth about Adrian and Claire's affair. Amelia catches Adrian and Claire kissing at the police station and breaks up with him.

Claire tries to reveal the truth about Nick to Kyle, who refuses to believe her claims. She later deduces that Jason is Olivia's murderer and begs him to help her. He offers to confront Nick and obtain a recording of a confession from him. The next day at school, Nick, who is beginning to get more unstable and starts hallucinating Leanne's presence, attempts to persuade Amelia into revealing the truth about Claire and Adrian's relationship to the police, just as he tried with Claire. Claire ultimately manages to stop Amelia but their friendship remains dissolved.

A paranoid Nick then calls the police himself in an anonymous call and proceeds to have a breakdown after Leanne pressures him into achieving his revenge on Adrian. Jason then confronts Nick, obtaining a recording from him, but during the heated argument, Nick strangles Nick with a necklace, killing him before fleeing the scene.

At the end of the day, Lynn appears at school and desperately tries to connect with her son. It is revealed that Kyle's father killed himself and Lynn has blamed herself for not recognizing the signs earlier. Their makeup is interrupted after Ellie discovers Jason's body, leading Kyle to track Nick down at the park. While there, Nick nonchalantly reveals that he is, in fact, Olivia's murderer - after Jason passed out, he took the torchlight, bludgeoned her and planted the weapon on Jason. Although Kyle is left unsure if this story is true or not, Nick is arrested by Detective Simon, with the angered characters watching on.

Cast

The cast of Clanstow's debut performance in the 2018 Adelaide Fringe was as follows:

Jack Cummins as Nick Waters

Zoe Taylor as Claire Warren

Alex Whitrow as Kyle James

Olivia Coppick as Amelia Simpson

Brad McCarthy as Adrian Williams

Katherine Silbereisen as Lynn James

Henry Turczynowicz as Jason Davidson

Grace Boyle as Ellie Davidson

Charlotte Beavis as Nancy Raleigh

Eva Tudorovic as Leanne Pearce

Alex Spice as Michael Simpson

Kelland Grigg as Detective Simon

Critical Reception

The debut production earned many positive reviews. Critic Celeste Villani from The Advertiser stated: "It is hard to believe a story so good was penned by a boy who is yet to finish high school." She went on to state:

"As the writer, co-director and producer the show, Cummins explores confronting themes including death and mental health, but displays them in a very mature way – he is well beyond his years. As the show goes on it is very easy to understand why Cummins’ script won the hearts of judges at the 2017 Flinders University Young Playwrights Award. If this show is any indication, Cummins is set to have a promising career in the arts."

Samela Harris from The Barefoot Review stated: "For a first show by a new group, Clanstow is a brave and worthy effort and one looks forward to what they do next."

Matt McKenzie from Great Scott Media stated "The whole production is impressively seamless and enjoyable for a debut performance. Scene changes were fluid, the performances were largely capable and Cummins' dialogue is punchy with a brash authenticity," going on to point out that "The packed-to-the-rafters opening matinee performance and warm reception seem pretty decent indicators that Cummins has a bright future ahead of him in the performing arts."

Each of the five performances at the Noel Lothian Hall were sold out and the play was nominated for the Holden Street Theatres Fringe Award. Following the success of Clanstow, Glassroom Theatre Company then went on to present Blackrock by Nick Enright in the 2019 Adelaide Fringe, at Holden Street Theatres

References

This article "Clanstow" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Clanstow. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

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