Cambridge Arts Theatre, Cambridge – until Sat 5th Feb 2022
Reviewed by Steph Lott
3***
Tom Bryce is a businessman struggling to save his business. In addition to this his alcoholic wife Kellie who can’t stop spending isn’t helping. On his commute back home he finds a memory stick, and, in an attempt to do a good deed, opens the files contained on it. Then wishes he hadn’t.
The cast features Adam Woodyatt (Eastenders) as Tom Bryce, with Laurie Brett (Eastenders, Waterloo Road) starring as Kellie Bryce and Harry Long playing Detective Roy Grace.
Ian Houghton (Jonus Kent), Leon Stewart (Glenn Branson), Gemma Stroyan (Bella Moy), Luke Ward- Wilkinson (Max Bryce), Mylo McDonald (Mick) and Natalie Boakye (Janie) also star in the show.
I haven’t read the book but I thought that writer Shaun McKenna has mostly done a great job of transferring the excellent plot into a play which worked very well on stage. It was an intriguing story well told which kept me guessing right up until the end (no spoilers!)
The set is mostly slick and impressive, and uses clever lighting. The audience can see inside the family home, the police station and a torture chamber which reveals very sinister scenes indeed.
However, despite the excellent plot I found the production somewhat lacking in thrills. I think this was due to a few things. I found the police station a bit odd – the 3 coppers rolling on and off stage was a little strange and a bit distracting. The relationship between three of them was also a bit one-dimensional; the scenes between them had too much boring banter and the puns and one-liners somehow didn’t fit.
Added to this I found the music a bit incongruous at times. There were oddly upbeat sections which were at odds with the dramatic events taking place onstage.
But the biggest problem for me was the lack of emotional intensity. Adam Woodyatt and Laurie Brett were rather flat and their performances lacked drama. The relationship seemed too cosy and not bad enough to explain what happens. Woodyatt has played Ian Beale for over 30 years and I had hoped, as the play progressed, to see him show he can play someone else. Sadly for me, I didn’t think this was the case. It was like Ian and Jane Beale had gone up in the world!
The action that ensued, for me, therefore just didn’t seem believable. I think also this may be due to the need to compact the book into a play. There simply isn’t enough time to be able to build the story and the tension between the characters up enough for what then follows to be credible. There needed to be more dramatic tension in my view.
Looking Good Dead was enjoyable, but for me not as thrilling as I was expecting. At times it was too light-hearted, considering the circumstances; in fact it did occur to me to wonder if in fact it was a spoof.