Banana Productions, April 2012
Two short plays set in a police interrogation room, each involving two
police officers, Helen and her superior Joe, and a suspect. The plays look at the ways in which the questioning process works,
and how officers sometimes resort to underhand tactics in order to obtain confessions. This is not a pleasant tactic: dramatist
Caine points this out through a skilful use of voiceover in which Helen (as well the suspects) disclose their true thoughts
to the listeners. Often they are completely at variance with their utterances.
Each play is only fifteen minutes long, but during that short time Caine manages
to compress a considerable amount of dramatic incident. He has a flair for dialogue, as well as an understanding of the ways
in which an interrogation becomes a battle of wits between the police and their suspects. He shows Joe's arrogance as he believes
he has "got" the suspects on the run, contrasted with Helen's more sympathetic approach. Although she wants a confession as
much as her superior, she believes that discovering the truth is more significant.
The only criticism I have of these productions is that they did not contain credit
sequences, either for actors or creators. I think their efforts need to be recognized.
