Wish You Were Dead - Review

Wherever you go, they will find you. This is the slightly alarming tagline for the stage adaptation of Peter James’ Wish You Were Dead which is now on at The Alexandra Theatre Birmingham.

Following on from five hit stage shows on the newly acclaimed ITV series titled ‘Grace’, The work of best-selling author Peter James returns to Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham with the world premiere stage adaptation of Wish You Were Dead. James is a prolific and highly successful author in the crime thriller genre whose novels, featuring Brighton-based Detective Superintendent Roy Grace, have sold 21 million copies worldwide and have topped the Sunday Times bestseller list an impressive 19 times.

The story follows Detective Superintendent Roy Grace and Cleo Morey taking their first holiday together, they hope for a few days away from their everyday worlds of murder and the mortuary. Cleo hopes that she will finally get Grace to herself and away from his crime-solving exploits. But their dream escape turns out to be the holiday from hell.

This production features a stellar cast, with George Rainsford taking the lead as Roy Grace, he was calm, collected, and methodical. Katie McGlynn stars as his partner Cleo Morey, with Clive Mantle plays Curtis. Their performances were more comedic and exaggerated, possibly to offer some light relief from DS Grace’s character. This production showcases their versatility as actors as they are well-known for tv roles. Rebecca McKinnis as Madame Lévêque and Gemma Stroyan as Kaitlynn Carter both demonstrated some impressive voice work.

Director Jonathan O’Boyle has carefully crafted this production. Michael Holt has created an inventive two-level set including a fully suited knight in shining armour, it is reminiscent of an Agatha Christie-style setting.

For me, I would argue that the first half is full of suspense and mystery whilst the latter half provides more of the backstory. I would say that it's hard to transition to watching Grace on stage after having seen the TV series. However, I enjoyed this production. It was full of suspense and had me on the edge of my seat and at times jumping out of it. There were also moments of comedic humour to lighten the mood and offer a refreshing lift.

Overall, I thought this was a very good show, the cast is sublime and embodies their characters, delivering strong performances. It’s a well-crafted show but there are just a few problems with the flow of the story. It was interesting to see another detective story on the stage as these seem to be making a comeback in theatres all over.

Wish You Were Dead continues at The Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham until Saturday. 24th June. Tickets are available at the following link https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/wish-you-were-dead/the-alexandra-theatre-birmingham/