Mayflower, Southampton – until Sat 11 March 2017. Reviewed by Sharon MacDonald-Armitage
With a story based on the writing of acclaimed author Peter James and set in a police station and mortuary in Brighton you’d expect Not Dead Enough to have the makings of a strong murder mystery. Perhaps the translation to stage is where the thrill of the thriller is lost, as this production fell rather flat for a number of reasons.
When Katie Bishop (Charlotte Sutherland) is murdered her husband and prime suspect Brian (Stephen Billington) claims he was miles away in bed. However, Detective Superintendent Roy Grace (Shane Richie), haunted by the disappearance of his own wife many years earlier, becomes affected more than usual over this case. Intertwined with Grace’s own demons and his personal relationships it becomes clear there is more to this case than originally thought.
Despite a well-known cast lead by Richie, who gives a believable and solid performance portraying Grace as a troubled and obsessed man, it is a step too far for him to carry the whole production. Laura Whitmore as mortuary technician Cleo Morey tries hard to make her character believable and there are glimpses of solid acting when she does, but mostly she appears rather out of her depth and her performance suffers because of this. Billington is rather caricaturist in his portrayal of the suspect leaving very little for the audience to engage with.
The production seems rather amateurish and Michael Holt’s split set looks messy and highlights what can go wrong when it is badly thought through. Of course this is a touring production that needs to be adaptable, but there is nothing remotely interesting or innovative in this one.
There were clear issues with the sound coming through the actor’s mics. Michael Quartey’s (Gless Branson) mic sounded a lot louder than the other cast members and when characters got into very close contact with each other mics seemed to drop in and out.
On the whole the production was rather stilted and there was little to engage or engross the audience, even the writing was laboured and pedestrian making it very difficult to have any feelings about the characters.