A man in a blue blazer speaks into a microphone while standing over a heap of motionless performers under smoky spotlights and a glowing overhead frame.

The Backstage Theatre, Mountview2025

A Very Expensive Poison

The Production

Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts’ Acting cohort presented Lucy Prebble’s A Very Expensive Poison at The Backstage Theatre, Mountview, from 4–7 November 2025. This amateur staging of the hyper-theatrical political thriller follows Marina Litvinenko’s search for the truth after the poisoning of former Russian intelligence officer Alexander Litvinenko.

46 photographs in the curated edit

Director: Lily Dyble
Associate Director: Natasha Harrison
Choreographer: Rachid Sabitri
Movement Director: Sachi Kimura
Lighting Design: Jodi Rabinowitz
Set & Costume Design: Caitlin Abbott
Sound Design: Joseff Harris
Commissioned by: Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts
Photography: Steve Gregson

In intense purple-blue light, a woman in a coat and scarf looks warily toward a blurred figure in the foreground.

On a blue-lit stage, hooded performers surround a tense confrontation as a central figure reaches out toward a man with raised hands.

A woman gently wipes blood from a bearded man's face with a tissue on a dark, minimal stage.

A wide stage view shows performers gathered beneath a tilted glowing square, with three people in the central pool of light and others watching from the edges.

In warm orange party lighting, a man in an ornate gold jacket holds a woman's hands beneath a mixed Cyrillic and Latin banner as two others look on.

A performer in a white lab coat stands before a projection reading “Dr. Gent’s report Into the Origins of Polonium,” casting a large shadow behind them.

A man in a blue suit smiles into a corded phone at a desk, flanked by two watchful men beside a glowing blue rectangular doorway.

A woman in an oversized grey coat crouches on the stage floor, watching an old television set on a small wooden table.

In a small domestic set with a sofa and glowing lamp, a seated man looks up while clasping hands with a woman standing before him.

Under intense red lighting, an ensemble in eveningwear and waiter costumes gathers between glowing doorframes, holding microphones as if mid-cabaret number.

At a small table with mugs, papers and a blue shopping bag, a woman gently holds a seated man's forehead under warm, intimate light.

A large projection of a magnified cell-like image dominates one side of the stage while performers in white protective suits face a woman in a dark coat.

A man in a suit and red tie stands partly hidden behind a dark angled set piece, lit from above by orange and white spotlights.

Around a white-clothed dinner table, several performers raise glasses in a toast while a hospital bed marked Intensive Care Unit sits to the side.

A performer in a green school blazer lies on their stomach on the stage floor, writing in a notebook beside a patterned backpack.

A bearded man in a green sweater sits tensely at a small table, facing another seated figure whose back fills the foreground.

In eerie blue-green light, four performers in white protective suits gather around a small table of bottles and a takeaway bag near an Intensive Care Unit set.

Two performers smile warmly as they hold each other's shoulders and face one another beneath a bright backlight.

A performer in a hospital gown sits beside an IV stand and meal tray, watching a suited figure enter through a red-lit doorway.

A man in a blue suit and red tie speaks into a microphone beside a seated man in a hospital gown, while figures stand in a red-lit doorway behind them.

Under an “Intensive Care Unit (ICU)” sign, a man and woman hold hands closely on a hospital-like set with a monitor glowing behind them.

Two performers in white shirts and black waistcoats hold silver serving trays at shoulder height, their faces lit against a dark stage.

Three people sit around a small table set for a meal, with one man gesturing as the two women listen and eat under warm stage light.

A wide stage scene shows several performers arranged around chairs, stools, a hospital bed area and a small table, with bright spotlights overhead.

A woman in a grey blazer stands in sharp focus with a serious expression, while a man in a tan coat and red sunglasses stands blurred behind her.

Beside an open suitcase on a bed, one performer sprays under their raised arm while another stands nearby holding a small lamp.

A performer in a pale uniform looks worried under bright light, framed by a green curtain and dark stage space.

At a small table with takeaway bowls and sauce bottles, one man eats, another reaches across, and a third in a checked suit raises his arm in an animated outburst.

A suited man stands elevated under a spotlight and glowing rectangular frame, above a cluster of performers sprawled and crouched on the dim stage below.

A red-haired performer in a white coat speaks intently in the foreground, with other performers blurred behind her under cool blue stage lighting.

An ensemble dances across a neon-lit stage in blue and magenta light, with a disco ball overhead and a bed with a figure in protective clothing at one side.

Two performers stand very close under blue and purple light, one gently holding the other's chin in an intimate moment.

A brightly lit ensemble raises their hands beneath falling confetti and a disco ball, with silver costumes catching the pink and blue stage lights.

Four performers in silver sequined outfits pose around an open suitcase with a raised leg protruding, framed by hot-pink neon and pale curtains.

Two performers hold each other at the center of a dark stage, isolated in overlapping blue and white spotlights.

A lone performer stands with their back to the audience in a circular spotlight beneath a suspended glowing square, with a bed set visible to one side.

In red stage light, a performer in a sheer black polka-dot top stares seriously at another performer in a patterned jacket.

A wide stage scene shows performers with cardboard boxes around a small television, lit by a stark overhead beam and a glowing square above.

A group gathers around a neon-framed doorway marked 42 as a performer with a rolling suitcase approaches, while another stands elevated above the set.

A man in a teal sweater holds an open paperback and looks warily toward a blurred woman in the foreground on a dark stage.

In a dimly lit scene, a performer in a lab coat stands before a projected diagram with a radiation symbol while hazmat-suited figures work around a lit table.

Under vivid pink and purple lighting, two performers hold champagne flutes as a suited performer throws their arms wide beneath a glowing rectangular frame.

A woman in a bright scarf gestures at center stage while another performer in a long coat faces her and a third sits to the side under warm spotlights.

At a small table, a man in a grey suit stares intensely across from a blurred figure, with mugs and a tray lit starkly in the foreground.

A lone performer stands center stage beneath sharp overhead beams, facing rows of dark empty chairs with black strips scattered across the floor.

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