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The Homecoming
Too little has been seen of Natalie Lenton Frank on the Portsmouth stage lately, but in The Homecoming she finds a role not only worthy of her gifts but positively demanding them.
Her character, Ruth, can seem a bewildering mix of beautiful trophy wife and liberated whore, and the actress captures not only those qualities but a gleaming, bright-eyed sense of triumph at the end.
Oh yes, and her very deliberate crossing and uncrossing of her legs in One Off's production seems calculated to send male pulses racing.
This depth of characterisation makes Harold Pinter's black comedy less the amoral work it might otherwise seem, more an honest reflection of women's changing expectations in the mid-1960s.
The script is full of the mystery and menace for which Pinter is famous, and although it sometimes seems to go around in circles, Pam Lippiett's crisp direction mostly keeps the sense of purpose strong.
Pinter's spare lines are beautifully paced.
All five male roles – all members of a single, largely unpleasant north London working-class family – are well-acted.
Particularly effective is Tim Stokes as the casually violent, ruthlessly sexual and sneeringly nasty Lenny. 'Don't clout me with your stick, Dad,' he says contemptuously.
Dad is a cloth-capped David Lippiett, delivering insults such as 'You're a maggot' with angry relish, and other characters are played by Terry Moore, Jim Adamson and James Rowland with a sure touch.
Until Saturday.
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Weather for Portsmouth
Wednesday 23 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 14 C to 20 C
Wind Speed: 24 mph
Wind direction: West
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 15 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: East
