Imprisoned in a hospital bed, the detective in Josephine Tey’s 1951 novel decides to investigate the ultimate cold case – Richard III’s murder of his nephews in 1483. The history is fascinating. Tay, and this stage version adapted by M Kilburg Reedy, present the case in detail with a sense of excitement. But while the book was groundbreaking, its stage version is an unhappy affair.
Thanks in part to Tay’s success, the idea of Shakespeare as a Tudor apologist is well established. We know Will did Rich dirty. So, it’s not a bad idea to add something new and Kilburg Reedy’s idea seems, roughly, to be a rom-com. It’s not a terrible notion, as it allows excuses for old-fashioned attitudes, leaning into a sweet spot of nostalgia. But for it to work, the love story needs to convince and the comedy make you laugh. The script and Jenny Eastop’s direction deliver neither.
With our hero, Inspector Grant, in bed for most of the show there’s an understandable concern about how to deal with such a static scenario – but it becomes an obsession for Eastop that has dire consequences. While Bob Sterrett’s set helps (and the idea of seeing some Shakespeare is good), the show has nurses and visitors coming and going for little reason and nobody arrives or leaves quickly enough. It all becomes tiresome.
A lot of effort is taken to plump out secondary characters but the results, and some of the performances, are poor. The three nurses are a case in point, being sketchy roles that only Janna Fox comes close to making work. The researcher Grant enlists to help him is lamentable, and the efforts to inject humour from notes on scraps of paper is poor from the start. As Harrison Sharpe, who takes the role, repeats the gag, I just felt sorry for him. There’s another poor effort that Noah Huntley has to deal with as the third in a faux love triangle (it’s a plot to make Grant announce his feelings), burdened by the unnecessary and heavy-handed suggestion that his character is gay.
A lot of this might be excused if the love story worked. While the casting of Rob Pomfret in the lead is sound, and his performance suggesting Grant’s depression has subtlety, Grant’s affection for actress Marta does not convince. Taking this role, Rachel Pickup has glamour – and her character’s hopes for respect as well as romance are a nice touch – but the chemistry and tension are weak. With the adaptation adding so little, you might as well stay home and read the book.
Until 13 September 2025
Photo by Manuel Harlan