WATCHING a death take place on stage can be excruciatingly painful if it is not handled properly, but it's something that I think Byley Village Players can proudly say they are definitely capable of.

Which is just as well really, given that their latest production of Frances Durbridge's House Guest required the actors to carry out three murders in front of an audience -- a daring move which they carried out bravely.

The thriller centred on film star Robert Drury, (Jon Clayton) and his wife Stella, (Sara Nicols), a pair of famous actors whose son Mike has been kidnapped.

The couple are pushed to extremes, when they have to house their son's kidnappers, Major Crozier, (Paul Woodward) and Vivien Norwood (Suzy Armitage).

Jon Clayton and Sara Nicols both put in good performances but I sometimes doubted the sincerity of their anguish and relationship and while Paul Woodward was suitably smarmy and performed well as Crozier, Suzy Armitage's performance was not quite nasty enough for the two faced character she was playing.

However, the action took a very interesting turn when bogus police officers Burford and Clayton, played by Simon Jones and John Cartlidge, took to the stage.

Cartlidge's strength as the volatile Clayton lay more in what he did not say, his presence was quite domineering for a character of so few words, but it was Simon Jones, whose outstanding performance and embodiment of such a despicable character dangerously close to the edge, made the play so menacing to watch.