DEADLOCK. To 18 August.

Tour.

DEADLOCK
by Peter Benedict.

Tour to 18 August 2007.
Runs 2hr 20min One interval.
Review: Timothy Ramsden 1 August at Richmond Theatre.

Secret lives; hidden deaths.
Despite repeated attempts to spice theatrical “thriller”s up with modern themes (there’s a gay MP in Peter Benedict’s Deadlock), since the early 1970s and Anthony Shaffer’s Sleuth they have been so full of plot gyrations that the twisting storylines have become their own justification. The playwright’s skill has been how well he can keep pulling rugs from under audience expectations without losing credibility. When it comes to a real sense of crime, the screen holds almost all the cards.

Benedict seems aware of this, referring to the genre almost as often as he does to Gilbert and Sullivan’s Mikado, which reflects his own plot (he makes all clear within the play). The programme carries a “spoiler warning” in Mousetrap manner. And he gives new life to the dead body motif mocked by Tom Stoppard’s Real Inspector Hound

Yet he goes further; by the end the play has ventured into both psychology (Marlowe’s love of control, seen in the opening situation and the sculptures he has made for his basement room) and, more substantially, ironic revenge drama.

At times the need for improvisation in the characters’ plottings makes for a nervy excitement. Mobile ‘phones add an element of unpredictability (not counting a highly intrusive one early on in the audience: now, if anyone should be murdered…) and a moment’s grim humour, while the idea of loyalty and betrayal mounts through the play.

But in a “thriller” nothing – theme, character – can be allowed to stop the plot, even when they help anchor it in reality. And Benedict’s slack production doesn’t help the necessary sense of propulsion and inevitability. Simon Ward plays Marlowe with a studied naturalism that comes to seem increasingly mannered, chopping the lines wilfully. This might be to suggest a cracking up as he loses control, but it eventually puts the brakes on what should be an increasing rise in tension.

Ashley George and Richard Driscoll give competent performances that create plot-twists and energy respectively. The fine Karen Drury is wasted in a negligible female role. It’s a “thriller” all right, but not the revenge drama it might have been.

Robert Marlowe: Simon Ward.
Brett: Ashley George.
Mark Dalton: Richard Driscoll.
Isabel Marlowe: Karen Drury.

Director: Peter Benedict.
Designer: Michael Holt.
Lighting: Nic Barnes.
Sound: Ed Brimley.

2007-08-02 11:00:07