Terry Wills watches the Alex’s latest thriller.
Scene – a West End theatre in 1989. Theatrical playwright Alex Dennison has reassembled the same cast that featured in his previous production a year on, since his fiancée and leading lady, Monica, apparently committed suicide. Grief stricken, he refuses to believe it was suicide and in an attempt to discover the truth he’s penned new scenes that suggests that one or more of the cast could have had a motive for murder.
It’s an intriguing theory that refuses to go away but of course the protagonist or protagonists have no inkling that this is the real reason they’ve been reunited. Naturally, they think they’re simply working on a new play. Will Alex’s theory be proved correct? Will the truth come out? Or will there be concusive proof that Monica’s death was suicide?
There’s growing tension as the cast read their lines. Could it have been murder? All is revealed in due course.
A host of well recognised television faces feature in the production. Robert Daws (Alex) and Amy Robbins (Monica) – she flits in and out of the production via a series of flashbacks, Susan Penaligon from the hugely successful Bouquet of Barbed Wire and Steven Pinder from Brookside are among them. All have now moved on to enjoy successful theatrical careers and are taking part here in an intriguing story that leaves audiences musing who is, or was, the character that had escaped justice?
Rehearsal for Murder can be seen at the New Alexandra Theatre until April 9th. Tickets www.atgtickets.com/venues/new-alexandra-theatre-birmingham
