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A review from 5D Music & Theatre writer Maria Robertson.
Official photos by Nobby Clark.
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Ian Rankin’s best selling crime novels have been brought to life in this new play he has written, with Simon Reade helping with the stage side of it in the second draft onwards. We all love a good “who done it” and this follows the formula of a variety of interlinked characters coming together in one place until a dead body is found and they need to work out who is the culprit.
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It was my son’s first time seeing a proper “grown up” play and it was interesting to hear his predictions in the interval, and his thoughts afterwards, although being a teenager they were a bit too monosyllabic to aid my reviewing much! He did enjoy it though, so that is a good thing!
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Most people know Rebus as a Scottish detective based in Edinburgh who solves murder mysteries; so it’s not surprising to find the stage was set up as a posh dinner party with some gorgeous artworks on the back walls and a lot of glasses. An interesting plot twist is that the dinner party are engaging in after dinner entertainment of a murder mystery game written by the hostess. Obviously I cannot give away much more of the plot as I would not like to spoil it for anyone.
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This is a wonderful play full of twists and turns as you discover the mystery within. The audience gains an insight into the lives of the characters and how they intermingle with each other’s lives. The main character’s are well-known faces from TV: Gray O’Brien is John Rebus, Billy Hartman is Jack Fleming and Abigail Thaw is Stephanie Jeffries.
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Directed by Loveday Ingram this is a well constructed play, all based around the dining room of Harriet and Paul’s New Town house. Harriet is played by Teresa Banham and Paul by Neil McKinven. The casting was done by Ginny Schiller who has done a fabulous job of matching the actors to the characters with them all fitting their roles perfectly, and working together very well to make some very believable relationships.
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The single set idea came from Rankin writing the first draft during lockdown when he was confined to his own four walls, although luckily for us he found this to be a very creative time. Whether you are a Rankin reader or not you will enjoy this play, as a separate entity. The script explains all you need to know from the award winning books and it is an enjoyable entity in its own right.
Further information: https://www.aberdeenperformingarts.com/whats-on/rebus-a-game-called-malice/
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Maria Robertson is the Chief Music & Theatre Writer for the 5D Pop Culture Website and provides reviews & coverage of local Aberdeen music & theatre gigs. She’s an experienced writer for numerous sources and is a self-confessed live gig addict ever since seeing The Counting Crows at the Barrowlands in 1994.
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