SLEUTH REVIEW
PRINCESS THEATRE
****
Whodunnit, how did they do it and did they actually do it? Nothing is ever what it seems in Anthony Shaffer’s gripping psychological thriller Sleuth, which played for a total of twelve years in both London and New York, winning the Tony Award for Best Play. This new adaptation, directed by Rachel Kavanaugh, is enriched by two powerful performances by its leading actors, Todd Boyce (Coronation Street) and Neil McDermott (Eastenders).
Normally I raise an eyebrow or two when I see that soap stars are headlining a play but the depth, energy and sheer compulsive viewing that these two actors create between them is extraordinary and completely beyond my initial expectations. Boyce plays, or rather inhabits, the character of Andrew Wyke, a novelist who not only writes detective stories but creates fantastical games, manipulating others to provide amusement, in an attempt to compensate for his own disappointing reality.
On this occasion, he has invited a young man called Milo Tindle (McDermott) to his imposing mansion, in order to humiliate him for having an affair with Wykes wife. What follows is an intricate web of gameplay and deception that leads to the audience being unsure about exactly who is playing games with who. Boyce’s portrayal of the upper class Wyke is commanding and is perfectly balanced by the more laid-back Milo, an apparent unwitting participant in Wyke’s devious plans.
Julie Godfreys set design may never change but is beautifully detailed, and the action is so well distributed across the whole stage that the setting never becomes too familiar. Shaffer’s dialogue is lengthy and hugely challenging for actors but is masterfully delivered in both its comic and more menacing moments by both actors, who carry the whole play with extraordinary gravitas. The dialogue contains a few jarring comments on the way women should be treated and leans more than once towards racial discrimination towards immigrants, which seems a little dated in this day and age, but they are not so prominent as to take away from the masterful way Shaffer takes us from one plot turn to the next. The unexpected is always around the corner and that is hugely entertaining to watch.
A series of plot twists and turns keeps us guessing until the very end and ensure that there are no lulls in the action, or the tension required to keep the audience thoroughly engaged. Sleuth is not a play that tours often and I would recommend catching it while you can.
Sleuth runs at The Princess Theatre, Torquay until Saturday 24 February
SARAH O’CONNOR
