Perfect Crime by Warren Manzi, Manor Pavilion Theatre Sidmouth, 8-13 July 2024 & Windsor Theatre Royal, 16-20 July 2024, 2✩✩. Review: Cormac Richards.
Photo credit: Sidmouth Summer Play Festival.
Perfect Crime by Warren Manzi, Manor Pavilion Theatre Sidmouth 8-13 July 2024 & Windsor Theatre Royal 16-20 July 2024.
2✩✩ Review: Cormac Richards
“An admirable production in many ways, but….”
Opening in 1987 at an Off-Broadway Theatre, ‘Perfect Crime’ is still running; a younger equivalent to London’s ‘The Mousetrap’ (now in it’s 70th year!). More astonishing is the fact that (apart from a small handful of performances), the leading role of the psychiatrist, Margaret Thorne Brent, has been played by the same actor, Catherine Russell – though the text has had to change to accommodate the passing of time. The wonder is that it hasn’t been hugely successful in the UK too.
It is always tricky to explain the plot of a thriller such as this, without giving too much away; suffice to say, all is not what it appears and the boundaries between fact and fiction, reality and make believe become somewhat blurred. Throughout the play, Warren Manzi, leads the audience on a merry dance with a hugely complex plot which bends this way and that with vigour. The storyline is so multi-layered that by the interval it is just about impossible to work out where the story is heading – unfortunately by the time the final curtain fell, I was still left wondering. Maybe a sharper pair of ears and a quicker brain will pick up all the necessary twists and turns and be able to decipher Manzi’s over-engineered plotting.
Sometimes, the acting is such that you can almost feel convinced that you understand what is going on; this was the case here. The quartet of actors give excellent performances throughout. In the lead role, Katie Paine is first-rate; strong and commanding with an unpredictable edge. As her husband, Simon Chappell combines the happy-go-lucky Brit with a good slug of the mysterious. Alex Hulme has an Elliott Gould vibe about him; effortlessly providing the romantic interest and the investigative nous. Adam Trembath steals the show as the fey patient Lionel with a penchant for long wigs and long dresses; it is a performance on the edge of sanity and works a treat.
Director Anton Tweedale keeps the action moving along well – even during some of the lengthier speeches – and his use of sound and music throughout provides an excellent backdrop to proceedings, as does Andrew Beckett’s extremely well-appointed set; dressed with a large variety of appropriate props; credit to the work of James Prendergast, whose attention to detail is extraordinary.
I would love to have really got my head around the play, but once lost, finding one’s way out of the maze is all but impossible. An admirable production in many ways, but the raw material of the script is just not as good as it should be and the ending fizzles rather than bangs.
Cast
Margaret Thorne Brent – Katie Paine
Inspector James Ascher – Alex Hulme
W. Harrison Brent – Simon Chappell
Lionel McAuley – Adam Trembath
Creatives
Writer – Warren Manzi
Director – Anton Tweedale
Design – Andrew Beckett
Lighting & Sound Operation – Mark Rose
Costume Designer – Jan Huckle
Set Builders – Rhys Cannon & James Prendergast
Props Supervisor - James Prendergast
Artistic Director - Paul Taylor-Mills
Season Associate Producer – Andrew Beckett