Reviewed by Wendy Mildren
March 2013
A clever adaption by Dominic Allen from a BBC radio play and directed by Alison Kershaw entitled My One and Only was brought to life at the Bakehouse Theatre.
Layla, played by Tamara Bennetts is a 29 year old single girl who has been having an affair with a married man and he has now ended it. She has a one night fling with Noah who is a disembodied voice played by Alan Fitzpatrick and he rings her continuously and when she turns off her mobile he beings to stalk her. The ironic point of the story is that becoming terrified of Noah, Layla is constantly ringing and stalking Ben, who the audience discovers as the plot unfolds, is married to Layla’s sister Amy, Jenny Scarce-Tolley.
Tamara was brilliant in her portrayal. She let the audience see her fears of the constant ringing of her mobile and Noah’s continuing pursuit of her in spite of her telling him she wasn’t interested, and her lovelorn futile pursuit of Ben. She was the sole occupant of the stage with the other characters being voices and she was faultless in her dialogue and moved as if she owned the stage.
The dialogue and the constantly ringing phone created an atmosphere that involved the entire audience. The minimalistic set worked well and Tamara used every part of it to best effect.
