King’s Theatre, Edinburgh- until 23rd February 2019.
Reviewed by Hannah Plumb
3***
Classic Thriller Theatre Company’s 2019 UK tour of The Lady Vanishes is the most recent reimagining of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1938 classic film. Adapted by Anthony Lampard and directed by Roy Marsden this production contains a star-studded cast of experienced actors. Leading the cast we have wife and husband duo Juliet Mills as Miss Froy and Maxwell Caulfield as Dr Hartz who’s strong performances could be taken straight from a vintage who-done-it film. Alongside them are two younger but also well-established actors Lorna Fitzgerald playing Iris and Matt Barber in the role of Max. Fitzgerald’s performance demonstrates a real understanding of her character which allows her to carry the more emotional and tense parts of the piece with real truth. Contrasting this is Barber’s portrayal of the enthusiastic yet somewhat clumsy Englishman which brings out the comedy of the script brilliantly. The entire cast are talented performers that bring this classic to life on stage and marry nostalgia and modern well. Some of the supporting characters struggle with some of the accents that the piece demands but overall this is a well-performed piece of theatre.
However, I do feel like the play as a whole is somewhat lacking, it seems to straddle two worlds. In one we have the classic thriller that is in line with similar Hitchcock classics, The 39 Steps, Strangers on a Train and other notable pieces of that era. In the other, we seem to have physical comedy and gags that would not be out of place in a French farce or pantomime. For example, in the middle of revealing a particularly important clue to unravelling the mystery we have clumsy and poorly designed fight choreography that leaves the audience wondering when the custard pies will be appearing. There is a conflict with the two styles of the piece which leaves you feeling that it can’t quite decide what it would like to be. I’m not sure the direction does the script justice.
That being said, the actors navigate this with compelling performances that suck you into the mystery and make you create your own theories to try and guess the ending. If you’re a fan of this style of theatre this is an engaging adaptation of a well-loved classic.