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17:00 - 09 October 2002
It WAS a bit of a shock when the two black-clad burglars burst into the Netherfield
living room.
I'd just been thinking about making myself a cup of tea when the lights went down, music blared out at ear-splitting volume and a masked man walked in with an axe.
I then remembered I wasn't in a real living room at all - I was in a sports shop that's been turned into a stage set for a play featuring just two actors.
Thick As Thieves rolled into the old Redmayne and Todd sports shop in Trinity Square on Monday for a month-long run.
The play was first performed in writer Mark Whiteley's Netherfield living room in February.
It has since visited London and Leeds, being partially rewritten along the way, before returning to Nottingham.
From the very outset, the gags flowed thick and fast, as the two bungling burglars, Steph and Barry, played by Mark Whiteley and Daniel Hoffman-Gill, set about looting an old man's house.
The two men's friendship is palpable, but it starts to turn sour when they discover a dead body in the back room, wearing just pants, one sock, and a gash on its forehead.
The play steadily builds up into a shocking and unexpected climax, moving smoothly from comedy to tragedy without jarring.
And the 40-strong audience can't help but feel involved in the action themselves - three lucky people sat on the living room sofa, which is actually part of the set.
Katheryn Whitt, from Gamston, enjoyed her comfy seat and close-up view.
She said: "I could feel the action as it unfolded. I actually got sweated on."
Fay Harrison, from Saxondale, joined her on the sofa.
She said: "It was like being in your own front room, like watching the TV come to life. It's so real."
Many people in the audience had seen the play performed in different venues.
Vanessa Gretton, from Mapperley, has now seen it three times. She said: "I think this is a fantastic setting, they've used the space brilliantly.
"It's such an original play and the venue is so intimate, they really complement each other."
And the sense of realism and intimacy continued after the play was over.
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