Showing @ Kings Theatre, Edinburgh until Sat 22 Feb @
Alfred Hitchcock‘s movie starring the gorgeous Grace Kelly was notoriously stagey, even its 3-D presentation couldn’t entirely save it. The original 1952 play is a quick-paced, engaging corker with a cracking twist in the tale. The plot revolves around jealous husband Tony Wendice (Robert Perkins), who concocts a scheme to murder his adulterous wife Sheila (Kelly Hotten). Unfortunately his perfect crime doesn’t go according to plan.
What could so easily have been Dull M for Murder is saved by some excellent direction from Lucy Bailey, a wonderful revolving blood red set (excellently lit by Chris Davey), and a powerful film noirish jazz score. There’s also some fine acting notably from Hotten as the victim and Perkins as her arrogant husband, who has something of Ukip’s Nigel Farage about him. Audience members of a certain age will be on the lookout for Christopher Timothy who made his name as the TV vet James Herriot, elbow deep in cow in All Creatures Great and Small, the 70s equivalent of Call the Midwife only with heifers.
There is a huge appetite for these rather old-fashioned stage whodunnits. Think of The Mousetrap or Anthony Shaffer’s Sleuth. They are often great vehicles for TV stars who want a theatre credit on their CV. This production – it’s not so much a whodunnit as a will-he-get-away-with-it – ticks along at a breakneck, lickety-split pace with the excellent cast making a believable story and a thoroughly enjoyable night out.
Hitchcock and cinema are hard acts to follow for a play, and like the master of on screen suspense was taken by the script’s theatricality, Bailey brings something cinematic to her onstage production. The murder itself is done exceptionally well, totally authentic and, as a consequence, almost too horrible to watch. In fact all the various bits of business are brilliantly stage-managed. This is a smartly-dressed, sprightly production that keeps the audience riveted until the final big reveal.