CentralDramaReview

Wish You Were Dead – The Alexandra, Birmingham

Reviewer: Selwyn Knight

Writer: Peter James

Adaptor: Shaun McKenna

Director: Jonathan O’Boyle

Detective Chief Inspector Roy Grace has every reason to feel pleased with himself. He’s on honeymoon with new Trhwife Cleo – with friends Kaitlynn and Jack to help look after baby Noah and give Roy and Cleo some private time. They’re booked into the Château-sur-L’Évêque, a quaint French chambre d’hote – imagine an upmarket Airbnb where you stay as (paying) guests of the owners – and his trusty lieutenant, Glenn, is about to pounce and arrest the new leader of the Esmond criminal gang. On arrival – several hours late thanks to problems on the road from Calais – it seems that ‘quaint’ is a rather optimistic description of their accommodation and the Trip Adviser reviews were, to say the least, overstated. It’s old-fashioned with dodgy electrics and no WiFi nor mobile signal and their hosts seem, well, unwelcoming. All is clearly not as it seems: how come their hosts seem to know so much about them? And where is Jack – surely he was ahead of them?

This is the latest adaptation of Peter James’ Grace stories adapted by Shaun McKenna to tour. It’s a passable thriller, but all too predictable. Michael Holt’s stage design is detailed and certainly evokes the mysterious and slightly seedy chateau very well. Before the interval, we see Roy, Cleo and Kaitlynn begin to explore the chateau, as tension is ramped up. But it’s all rather heavy-handed, from the direction of Jonathan O’Boyle to the soundscape designed by Max Pappenheim. After the interval, things move up a gear but the direction remains wooden with every twist clearly signposted.

George Rainsford does a decent job as Grace who finds it hard to let go of work, but we never really feel as if we get under his skin. Kate McGlynn is rather shouty as Cleo, while Gemma Stroyan’s Kaitlynn provides some light relief in her determination to see the bright side in everything.

But really stealing the show is Clive Mantle as bad guy Curtis. Mantle brings us a caricature of the archetypal – according to film and TV – gangster, complete with East End accent and swagger. Mantle seems to be relishing the role, but it almost feels as if he’s playing it for laughs. Despite his threats and gradually revealed backstory, his venom as he struts around the stage and his louring stage presence, he never actually feels threatening. He’s supported in his despicable villainy by Rebecca McKinnis, possibly the most three-dimensional of the characters: her journey as the play progresses is entirely believable.

But it’s the actual storyline that is the weakest link here. In the programme, James describes staying in a similar venue to the Château-sur-L’Évêque, albeit with a less distressing turn of events. He writes of feeling that the experience was a gift to him as a writer, and it became the setting for his 2021 novella, Wish You Were Dead and of this adaptation. However, the transposition to the stage doesn’t really work. It’s entertaining but for the wrong reasons. There are the mandatory points that make you jump in your seat, for example, as thunder cracks and lights go out, but any sort of jeopardy is lacking. It’s undemanding fluff and a pleasant enough diversion, but no more than that.

Runs until 24 June 2023 and on tour

The Reviews Hub Score

Undemanding Fluff

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The Reviews Hub - Central

The Central team is under the editorship of Selwyn Knight. The Reviews Hub was set up in 2007. Our mission is to provide the most in-depth, nationwide arts coverage online.

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