Writer: Cameron Corcoran
Director: Hector Smith
Reviewer: Christine Stanton
“Mysterious”
3.5 / 5
Kenny, Tom and Beth, after years of avoiding each other, are all back in their family home for their mothers will reading. Childhood memories are dredged up and unresolved tensions are dragged to the surface in this mysterious family-centric drama.
Talented writer and actor – Cameron Corcoran specialises in tense storylines and highly charged dialogue, and Nook is no different. Focusing on the fallout of a family steeped in secrets and trauma, the audience are flies on the wall in the family home, as the siblings discuss the will and try their best to come to a mutual agreement about the property. The first act, running at 50minutes long, is thick with intrigue as the characters allude to various incidents from their past – their mother pitting the boys against each other in boxing matches, and Beth’s (Velvet Brown) breakdown where she climbed into bed with her uncle Philip (Tim Molyneux) much to the confusion of the rest of the family. The characters are well written – each believable in their conversations and creating the awkward, estranged family atmosphere that shows both love and hatred for each other.
The second act (35 minutes long) begins with anticipation, the audience expecting the well-built suspense in the first half to come to a crashing finale, with shocking revelations and explanations for some of the throwaway comments made that signified a ‘smoking gun’ style narrative closure. But disappointingly, the pacing and energy is much slower, and never quite reaches a crescendo – with the storyline instead feeling slightly lost at where it wants to go, rather than resolving some of the questions raised by the audience. Velvet Brown (Beth) has a central role in the second half, with her character’s trauma being brushed upon frequently, yet never fully acknowledging anything too in depth, which although adds a layer of realism, dilutes a lot of the bubbling ‘what if’s’ from the beginning of the script.
Shannon Smith (Kenny) is fabulous as the eldest born son, full of buried contempt yet still trying his best to look out for his siblings now that their mother has passed. Tom (Cameron Corcoran) is shown as the emotional, fragile younger brother – his marriage to supportive wife Maya (Aoife Boyle) falling apart and frustrated at his place in the family as the underdog, constantly compared to Kenny and never quite matching up. Zoe Scott (Sarah) brings a gleefully wicked characterisation of Kenny’s spouse – snooty and self-centred, her comedic outbursts and throwaway comments help to diffuse some of the biting tension and it’s a shame that her character is absent in the latter half of the show, because she is a joy to watch. Molyneux is also a great character addition, as he elicits both sympathy and suspicion from the audience – continuing the theme of duality from the well-layered characters.
This is a great premise, with lots of scope to develop the strong characters and intriguing narrative arcs.
Runs Until 21st August 2024
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