Cathy O’Brien (as Dr. Campbell) shares a tense moment with Mark Axelson (Mike Mason) in “Blood Money,” which is playing at Stageloft through Aug. 31. (Rich Dussault photo)
Featuring a quintet of performances he considered as taut as the script itself, Telegram & Gazette reviewer Paul Kolas heaped praise on Stageloft Repertory Theater’s current staging of the dramatic thriller “Blood Money.”
Director David Glanville’s “fine cast has a great time of it,” said Kolas in summation, “pulling the wool over our eyes with the kind of dark-and-stormy-night acting that a show like this depends on for its success.”
And a success it is, fetching 3.5 stars out of 4 from Kolas. “Blood Money” debuted on Friday, Aug. 8, and runs through Sunday, Aug. 31. Stagings take place at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Sundays.
Click here to read the full review on telegram.com. For more details and to pre-order tickets, visit the “Blood Money” show page at this link.
“Blood Money” is a product of the Heather Brothers, Britain-based playwrights who generously sent along best wishes to Glanville and his cast for the Stageloft effort’s opening. “We hope you have as much fun working on the show as we did writing it,” said John Heather in a message from across the Pond.
The linchpin of the production is the dynamic pairing of Mark Axelson and Stacie Beland as secret-harboring spouses Mike and Elizabeth Mason. Kolas saluted their acuity in “tossing Mike and Liz’s verbal venom with sadomasochistic delight.”
Julie McGourty brings “frisky, insistent, petulant allure” to her role as Mike’s possible mistress, Sue. Cathy O’Brien submits “a marvelous performance” as boozy Liz’s therapist, Dr. Julie Campbell, while the TV awards host Nancy Edwards (played by Joanna Tivnan) nicely sets the stage for the creepy twists to come.
There’s also a non-credited character, Carol Mitchell, whose name will be seared into “Blood Money” attendees’ psyches upon completion of a mysterious thrill ride that, as Kolas noted, is “more complicated than you might even imagine.”
