Looking Good Dead, the second show at newly reopened Newcastle Theatre Royal, runs until Saturday (July 24). DAVID WHETSTONE, with mask, was at the first night.
Adam Woodyatt and Gaynor Faye as Tom and Kellie Bryce in Looking Good Dead
So nice to be back at the famous old theatre at the top of Grey Street – even if there was something quite nasty on stage.
The nastiness came as no surprise. It is crime writer Peter James’s speciality. Every one of his bestselling Roy Grace novels has ‘Dead’ in the title.
This is the fifth Grace adaptation to make the stage. An earlier one – it would have been ‘Dead’ something – had a poor chap buried alive.
“What’s the worst that can happen?” people often say. You wouldn’t say it in a James world of worst-case scenarios where fate, once tempted, is liable to come at you all guns blazing.
This time the ‘fun’ starts when frazzled Tom Bryce, played by Adam Woodyatt (EastEnders lifer until his recent release for an ‘extended break’), comes home with a computer memory stick someone left on the train.
Looking Good Dead at Newcastle Theatre Royal
Houseproud wife Kellie, played by a brave and spirited Gaynor Faye, and tech-savvy teenage son Max (Luke Ward-Williamson), aren’t that interested.
Then Tom says “Hey, let’s see what’s on it” – or words to that effect.
Every fibre of your being screams: “DON’T!” But you know he will and you know if he doesn’t, we might as well all go home.
He and Max duly witness something terrible.
Of course they do. This is Peter James, as adapted for the stage by Shaun Mckenna. Almost immediately the Bryce family is sucked into a world where death is showbiz and the worst that can happen is happening.
And then come the police led by Detective Superintendent Roy Grace, James’s hard-bitten Brighton crime-buster with the mysteriously missing wife.
Peter James hangs out with police officers and prides himself on being steeped in their modus operandi but I wouldn’t say he’s done them any particular favours here.
This Roy Grace, manifested by Harry Long, seemed slow on the uptake to me and even a little wet.
Perhaps he was distracted by his sidekick’s dreadful puns or by the creepy crawlies serving as a killer’s calling card.
Adam Woodyatt and Luke Ward-Williamson in Looking Good Dead
As horror piled on horror, twist on twist, I found myself not so much on the edge of my seat as chortling inwardly. I’m not entirely sure black comedy was the intention.
But it was nice to be back in the Theatre Royal again and wearing a mask was a small inconvenience (it might be awkward at a panto or anything requiring audience participation).
For me it was the first time since the RSC’s Much Ado About Nothing in March last year, after which the place went dark and the future became increasingly bleak.
The new season opened tentatively last week with the musical Six (coming back early next year) in front of a limited audience.
Having been thrown a £3m lifeline by the Culture Recovery Fund, the prospects now seem better for this North East institution and hopefully its programme will not be disrupted again.
Undoubtedly there will be better shows than this one in the pipeline but for now it’s nice to see the theatre open, actors performing and audience members taking their seats.
Details of further performances of Looking Good Dead and upcoming productions are on the website.
In other news… At the end of September Philip Bernays, having postponed his retirement to deal with the recent crisis, will step down after 16 years at the helm of the Theatre Royal. Successor Marianne Locatori, currently director of strategic projects at Theatre Royal Plymouth, will take over as chief executive at the start of October.