| (C) THE JAMES EARL ADAIR WEBSITE - 2003 |
| SLEUTH Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch 3rd-25th October Tickets: �8-�15 01708 443333 Review by Alison Woollard There's a trick or deception at every turn in this play. You shouldn't even trust the programme. Anthony Shaffer has taken the whole world of English detective fiction and added so many extra twists that the audience doesn't have a moment to admire the solid English country house set. Sleuth has been entertaining audiences for many years now and was a well known film with Michael Caine and Laurence Olivier. Andrew Wyke is a successful writer of murder mysteries who knows every stereotype in the genre and enjoys acting them out. His house is full of games, tricks and explosive devices. But his personal life is not so successful: another man has taken his wife and the time has come for some revenge. Who exactly is going to take the revenge? Andrew? or Milo, his wife's new younger lover? James Earl Adair is believable as the suave and sophisticated older man in charge of proceedings while Richard Emerson goes on a steep learning curve as the unsuspecting Milo, who soon learns to play the same games as his host. The set is impressive and music and lighting create the right edgy mood. The explosives and breaking china do need to go with more of a bang though! BBC Essex Online |