The Door in Guildford

I’m delighted that Damn Cheek are coming to Guildford with my original and longest running play. The Door will be on at the Yvonne Arnaud’s Mill Studio for one night only on Friday, February 7th at 8pm. Tickets are £17.50, inclusive of restoration levy and booking fee and are available on 01483 440000 or online – https://www.yvonne-arnaud.co.uk/production/the-door

The Door

 The Door opens with two soldiers in uniform, pacing a room. One is a corporal, the other an officer. They are nervous, awaiting a court martial. They struggle to find common ground, their backgrounds and interests are misaligned. The banging of a door, off, does not help their nerves. As the play progresses and the two try to make sense of each other and the situation it becomes clear that they served in the same special unit, one of the team died, and there are questions about responsibility. The men agree to prepare for the hearing by role playing the legal cross questioning  they are about to endure. 

This results in revelations about character, relationships and attitudes, while dealing with questions about foreign adventures (they served in both Iraq and Afghanistan), about the need to follow orders and the downsides of doing so, about accountability, and about proper equipping of troops sent to serve in trouble spots. There are twists and turns before the truth emerges in a dramatic denouement. The whole is laced with humour and the tension is underscored by the banging of the door. 

Reviews have been very favourable throughout. This is what Three Weeks had to say:

This is a highly provocative piece that leads the audience on an emotional and intellectual journey. Beginning in a waiting room where two men self-consciously complain about a banging door, ‘The Door’ quickly progresses to discussions of politics and religion between two characters on the opposite ends of the social spectrum. Masterfully written, the plot gradually unravels more and more information about their relationship. The use of a grumbling refrain about the banging door is a clever indication of a change in subject or tone on the road toward an evocative climax. An insightful production with unbounded depth of meaning, ‘The Door’ presents a blissful marriage between a fascinating script and captivating acting. A must see.’

Tony Earnshaw

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