Malvern Festival Theatre
JOSHUA ANDREWS & PETER JAMES PRODUCTION
 |
| Les Dennis, Gray O'Brien & Claire Goose |
The perfect stage adaptation of the perfect murder story,
with the perfect cast of seasoned professionals makes The Perfect Murder a sure
fire hit. With huge recent media exposure and rave reviews, this new writing
had a lot to live up to and doesn’t disappoint. Set in present day suburbia,
celebrated crime writer, Peter James, explores the frightening belief that
around 600 missing people a year, in the UK, are murder victims who will never
be discovered, confirming that the perfect murder is the one we don’t hear
about. To allay some fears though, that equates to only 0.0001% of the UK
population.
With such serious subject matter, it is a surprising relief
to discover that Shaun McKenna cleverly weaves a reasonable amount of humour
into his adaptation through the domestic disharmony of the ironically named Mr
& Mrs Smiley. Victor, an aging IT manager, convincingly played by Les
Dennis, is trapped in a loveless marriage to the younger, unfulfilled Joan,
superbly portrayed by the wonderful Claire Goose. Both alleviate their
unhappiness through love affairs, of which they are each equally oblivious.
Kamila Walcak is perfect as Victor’s sultry, Croatian prostitute with
unexpected hidden talents that prove incredibly useful to the young DC Grace,
perceptively interpreted by the distinguished, Steven Miller. Joan enjoys an
invigorated love life with ‘cockney geezer’ cabby, Don Kirk, whose impressive
athletic prowess is enjoyably flaunted at every opportunity by the talented
Gray O’Brien.
Although all of the actors do an excellent job, some of the
performances appeared to lack truth and were a little technical at times. It
may be that this was a conscious decision taken by director, Ian Talbot, but
more emotional connection between the characters might have enhanced the
delivery of such brilliant writing. At times it sounded more like a script
reading than an expression of personality and thoughts.
This is definitely a play of two halves. The first act runs
two relatively separate storylines, one comedic and one dramatic, with action
swapping between the Smiley’s home and the Brighton brothel. Act two, however,
brings in an unexpected third element with twists and turns that make for a
thoroughly enjoyable evening of entertainment. Definitely worth seeing.
