Last updated 16:53, Thursday, 31 July 2008

IT was obvious within a few minutes of Stephen Ley walking on stage that the audience were going to be treated to a tour de force.

Stephen Ley: A breath-taking performance as The Caretaker

Stephen gives an astonishing performance as Davies the tramp in Harold Pinter's The Caretaker. I'm fast running out of superlatives for the summer season at Keswick Theatre but I'd go as far as to say his is one of the best performances I've seen in 30 years of watching theatre.
The Caretaker looks at three characters on the edge of our society - so for those bored with modern society's obsession with beautiful celebrities it's a wonderful breath of fresh air.
A study of three 'misfits' can be a difficult play to interpret but director Sarah Punshon gets closer than many to working out what Pinter was trying to achieve in this ground-breaking play.
On the face of it, it sounds incredibly dull - a tramp comes to stay with two brothers for a few days. It almost makes Waiting For Godot sound like a Hollywood action blockbuster! But it's the interpretation of these characters, what they mean to each other and Pinter's crackling dialogue that makes this such a well-loved classic.
James Wooldridge plays the menacing brother Mick and pulls it off with precision. While Patrick Bridgman takes on the role of schizophrenic brother Aston - a man so convinced by his abilities he's blinded to the fact he's achieved little and probably never will. He pitches it just right as a counterbalance to the larger-than-life Davies.
As good as James and Patrick are, it's Stephen Ley who takes this play to a whole new level. I won't go as far as to say 'steals the show' because that would wrongly suggest the other two players are left playing bit-parts. They all work together well. But Stephen is a man possessed for two hours by the spirit of Davies - every glance, mannerism, cough and splutter is in character. It's the ultimate lesson for actors in how to do the job and do it with utter conviction.
The Caretaker is at Keswick Theatre until November. Phone 017687 74411.

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