Peter James' Not Dead Enough

I am something of a follower of Det. Insp. Roy Grace in the novels of Peter James and must confess to having always avoided onstage incarnations by Shane Ritchie and others.  I, therefore, approached this production with some trepidation but was pleasantly surprised by the incarnation of my hero in the form of Alex Swan, who really looked and sounded the part.  Grace is a man with a past, not least a wife who disappeared many years ago.
 
There is, however, another difficulty.  What seems like a gritty police procedural on the written page struggles, here, to achieve the same reality when transferred to the stage.  This is not a reflection on the players or the production.  It is something to do with the adaptation of the source material by playwright Shaun McKenna.  One review of the professional production opens cruelly “The story creaks like an old cell door and the ending is preposterous … “

On the other hand, this cast grabbed it by the scruff of the neck and ran with it.  Names, familiar to me, pepper the cast list.  There is reliable Glenn Branson, Grace’s Sergeant played by Simon Pinkney who imbues his part with reality and humour [but does not give much of a hint of his Caribbean forbears!]. Then there is Grace’s wife-to-be, Cleo, played by Fiona Jones who, as a forensic pathologist, manages to look convinced throughout the strange and unlikely events unfolding, primarily, in her pathology lab.  Another familiar name is Det, Sgt. Bella Moy, played here by Vicky Lockey, who fills in all the procedural gaps.  Sadly, I happen to know that Bella later becomes engaged to one of Roy’s detectives and is murdered for her trouble, but not here.

The police find themselves embroiled in the rather unpleasant murder of Katie Bishop (Nicola Shenton), the wife of shifty local businessman, Brian Bishop (Ian Cairns).  As in all the best procedurals, the husband is the prime suspect until it is, perhaps, proved someone else is responsible. I am happy to praise the cast for fully investing themselves in persuasive performances despite some pretty clunky material.  I devised at least three brilliant solutions but I was always outflanked by the script.  I think I am being honest in saying the final denouement is far from convincing.  I enjoyed the show, nonetheless, as an evening of entertaining fun played, beautifully straight, by a talented cast - although I may stick to the novels.

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