REVIEW:
Not Dead Enough, UK Tour, Manchester Opera House
27/05/17 - 2.30pm
Reviewed by:
Koala: 🐨🐨🐨/5
29th May 2017
Koala: 🐨🐨🐨/5
29th May 2017
The theatre bears are big fans of musicals and most of the reviews we write will be on musical theatre productions. However, this Saturday, Koala got to see a play – Not Dead Enough, adapted from a Peter James novel.
Bill Ward plays Roy Grace, a detective superintendent who is still trying to come to terms with the disappearance of his wife years before whilst simultaneously trying to hold down a new relationship with Cleo Morey (Laura Whitmore), the mortician and trying to solve the murder case of a woman found dead in her own home. The main suspect in the case is Brian Bishop, played by Stephen Billington, who continues to claim his innocence, whilst more and more evidence piles up against him.
Ward plays the role of Grace well but there is nothing about him that particularly stands out and he could easily have been playing James Barton (his character on Emmerdale) as a member of the police force. He works well with Whitmore but a lot of her lines were lost. We were sat in the dress circle and, a number of times throughout, we struggled to hear what Whitmore was saying.
The stand out, for me, was Stephen Billington, who played a complex role amazingly well. I can’t say too much more without giving away the plot and ending!
The split stage, with the mortuary above on a raised platform, and the police station and interview room on stage level below, worked well in parts.
On the whole, I feel if you are a fan of Peter James and the characters presented, you are more likely to enjoy this stage version than if you are not. As someone who didn’t know the characters of Roy Grace and Cleo Morey before seeing Not Dead Enough, I felt too much was expected of prior knowledge and parts of the story were lost as a result.
Bill Ward plays Roy Grace, a detective superintendent who is still trying to come to terms with the disappearance of his wife years before whilst simultaneously trying to hold down a new relationship with Cleo Morey (Laura Whitmore), the mortician and trying to solve the murder case of a woman found dead in her own home. The main suspect in the case is Brian Bishop, played by Stephen Billington, who continues to claim his innocence, whilst more and more evidence piles up against him.
Ward plays the role of Grace well but there is nothing about him that particularly stands out and he could easily have been playing James Barton (his character on Emmerdale) as a member of the police force. He works well with Whitmore but a lot of her lines were lost. We were sat in the dress circle and, a number of times throughout, we struggled to hear what Whitmore was saying.
The stand out, for me, was Stephen Billington, who played a complex role amazingly well. I can’t say too much more without giving away the plot and ending!
The split stage, with the mortuary above on a raised platform, and the police station and interview room on stage level below, worked well in parts.
On the whole, I feel if you are a fan of Peter James and the characters presented, you are more likely to enjoy this stage version than if you are not. As someone who didn’t know the characters of Roy Grace and Cleo Morey before seeing Not Dead Enough, I felt too much was expected of prior knowledge and parts of the story were lost as a result.