The truth is, this drama club effort is outstanding (Darlington & Stockton Times)

To let sleeping dogs lie or not: that is the question in the latest offering by Gainford Drama Club, performed at the village”s Academy Theatre.

Everything seems back on track at Caplan”s publishing house following the apparent suicide of Martin Caplan. Until, that is, a chance remark about a cigarette box at his brother”s dinner party in J. B. Priestley”s thriller, Dangerous Corner, opens a can of worms. The guests are then plunged into re-examining the circumstances of Martin”s death, with each in turn demanding the truth about the other.

As small talk disintegrates and the gloves come off the deeper question of whether the world could function successfully if everyone told the absolute truth is explored.

On Tuesday”s opening night there were some stunning performances from the cast of seven, most notably from Jan Richardson-Wilde, who had been head over heels in love with the dead man despite being married to his brother. Her performance was commanding and utterly believable in winning the audiences sympathy,

John Robinson as Stanton was, as ever, master of the understatement, with a commanding stage performance. But the small cast, which had a great deal of intricate dialogue to remember, coped exceptionally well and needed little prompting.

The rest of the line-up included Veronica Lowery, Karin Dowson, Sarah Bainbridge, Chris Gibbon and David Simpson.

Others involved were Enid Burdon, Viv Cordial, Barrington Wearmouth, Mike Sillars, Iris Hillery, Allan Jones, John Lowery, Di Peat, Richard Stephenson, Bob Blyth, Joan White, Harry Robinson, Paul Richardson, Chris Allcock, Joan Hillery-Robinson, Kate Roy, Jean Emerson, Jenny Winnard, Viv Brown and Avis Tucker.