Earlier this year at Hampstead Ed Hall directed an exciting production of David Greig’s Dunsinane, a sequel to Macbeth. So expectations were high for his debut as Hampstead’s artistic director. These were quickly dashed by his choice of an over- talky psychological thriller by Shelagh Stephenson.
A backpacker has failed to return from a gap year abroad and nobody knows what has happened to him. It is presumed he is dead, murdered or, perhaps, killed in a terrorist bomb attack. His distraught mother turns to a psychic (a caricature). Her father turns to a TV documentary producer (another caricature), who is more interested in ratings than truth. And then out of the blue a psychotic imposter turns up and everybody behaves in the most unbelievable manner.