Wycombe Swan, High Wycombe – until Saturday 11th April 2026
Reviewed by Rachel Clark
4****
The stage was set and screens were up and it was quiet, the lights didn’t go down at first and a guy walked on the stage and started talking. Was this the start of the play? Was it just to ask us to turn our phones off! It was the start of the play, and he started to tell his story. This was Walter Huff, an insurance salesman, played really well by Ciaran Owens. Ciaran has played in televisions – Granchester, Father Brown, Peaky Blinders and many more. He was dressed in the 1930’s and had a really clear voice with an American accent, as I was at the front you could clearly see his microphone on his head – that I kept focussing on. Then walks in Phyllis Nirdinger played by Mischa Barton – Mischa Barton was born in London and has had the pleasure of working with Richard Attenborough, she starred in The Sixth Sense and seems to play regular roles in murder mysteries.
Double Indemnityis an Ionic Hollywood thriller by James M Cain and adapted for the stage by Tom Holloway. A story full of mystery, murder and deceit. The story is based in Los Angeles in the 1930’s in the time of the great depression. Walter Huff and Insurance salesman who comes across Phyllis Nirdlinger and discusses her husband’s life insurance and he gets drawn into her seduction, greed and betrayal. Together Walter and Phyliss plot the perfect murder, or do they?
Martin Marquez plays Keyes, Walter Huff’s boss, he was a really good, loud American, playing around with his large cigar.
I was was a bit confused as only a small cast Gillian Saker played several parts that worked, as each part she had a different hairstyle and look but Joseph Langdon played, three parts, but as his hairstyle was the same and voice I got a bit lost on why he was a student and then the owner of the Insurance firm, but it was me not being 100% on the ball, I would have preferred the ensemble members to play some of the parts – but that is just my thoughts.
It was an enjoyable play with twists and turns and kept you entertained, a simple stage set as such, but a lot of work had gone into it, easy set changes and a very well-acted and a story with a twist! Before you knew it the play was over, the time flew by and the play kept you enthralled.