Emberweave

When the story begins, we see adult male twins in clothing that looks like it's from the 1920s. They're visited by a guy dressed in a suit that looks like early 1960s. Later a man says his mother died in 2014. In what year is this taking place? Did the twins just get home from auditioning for an am/dram production of "Newsies?" The twins have zero body fat. They also have zero charisma. I assume they were hired simply because they are cute twins. I also assume they're models because they are incredibly wooden when they move or speak, and when they're still, they are so carefully posed. Hands in the pockets? Arms are bent at a perfect 90 degrees. Drinking tea? Posed with the cup for that perfect print ad shot. And the twin with the suspenders looks like he's constantly trying to flex under his shirt. It's distracting. Especially when they talk, because they deliver their dialogue like they're afraid to move their facial muscles at all for fear of creating wrinkles. They're too young to be acting like Patsy Stone from Absolutely Fabulous ("I can't smile like that! I can't afford the wrinkles!") And they can't sing. No one can sing in this alleged musical. Actually the only person with any life or talent is the actress playing the dead woman. What seemed like it would be an interesting experiment, a kind of Agatha-Christie-meets-Gilbert-&-Sullivan production, doesn't work at all. The story is nothing but cumbersome exposition set to music that never develops beyond the first few bars, but becomes a repetitive refrain. And all the bad singing. I had to give up after 40 minutes because life is too short. It's a mystery to me how this got to the production stage because it definitely feels like a workshop piece that needs a lot of work before it's ready. And I mean a LOT of work.

I couldn't remember the title and had to look this up by typing in Allen Leech, and then learned the title was changed outside Europe. It was called "Captivated" on my listings. What a mess. The pacing is glacial most of the time. People and plots are introduced that never go anywhere or have any type of payoff. None of the characters are particularly likeable, although the actors aren't bad, considering the material they're working with. At certain angles the lead actress reminded me so much of Sally Field that it was distracting. But then she'd speak and made me think she's the love child of Sally Field and Sharon Small (i.e. Sgt. Havers from the Inspector Lynley Mysteries). I thought hiring a child with dwarfism and not making it relevant to the plot was actually an interesting choice, although it did give the story a bit of a Daphne du Maurier "Don't Look Now" vibe that may not have been intentional. However, the ending made me wonder. I laughed out loud at how ridiculous it was. The production looked beautiful, but there is too much that is too preposterous. On the PBS channel I watched this on, it was the 10pm program and turned out to be perfect for preparing for bed. I was so bored and sleepy by the end of each episode, I fell asleep quickly when I went to bed because I was already in a stupor. Sara Powell is good in anything she does. Allen Leech is a very handsome man, so looking at him was the main enjoyment of this mess of a mystery.