Review: Pig Stew at the People's Theatre, Newcastle

Nov 18 2010 by David Whetstone, The Journal

AFTER watching Pig Stew I found myself feeling slightly nervy in the dark car park next to the People’s Theatre.

Pig Stew, Fiona Veitch Smith’s winner of the People’s Play 2010 competition, is about family politics but that hardly does justice to its capacity to scare.

The story is set on a pig farm in Northumberland where sisters Louise (Jo Kelly), Denise (Melanie Dagg) and Juliet (Amy Nicol) meet to discuss their inheritance after the death of their father.

Denise, the wife of a Newcastle footballer, and Juliet, a gay orangutan conservationist, are plotting to sell the farm as a solution to their money troubles.

Unknown to each other, they have been groomed by the same suave property developer, who is intent on ripping them off and selling the farm for a substantial profit.

The story takes a frightening turn when Louise, harrowed by exhaustion after months of taking care of their dying father and the pigs, appears to lose her marbles at the prospect of flogging the farm.

The plot takes unforeseen twists, that at times, are both funny and disturbing.

The intimacy of the Studio, a venue with only four rows of seating, exaggerates these points of high drama that are frequent and hot- blooded. Superbly written and directed, the play also benefits from brilliant acting.

Jo Kelly deserves special praise for her slightly unhinged character who is a constant source of entertainment.

Stuart Laider, who plays Matthew the property developer, is also excellent and was mainly responsible for my sprint across the car park sprint since he is convincingly scary.

I would recommend a trip to the People’s, which is on Stephenson Road, Heaton, to see Pig Stew. But beware: it is not for the faint-hearted.

Tammy Hughes