Theatre / Reviews
Review: Single White Female, Theatre Royal Bath – ‘Kym Marsh and Lisa Faulkner are outstanding’
Motherhood is an inherently political state. Everybody has a view, and nobody wins in the ratings war.
Rebecca Reid’s adaptation of the 1990s film, directed by Gordon Greenberg, is a pacy and enjoyable stage thriller. The two leads, Kym Marsh as Hedy and Lisa Faulkner as Allie, are outstanding – and, like the audience, they clearly enjoyed themselves.
What’s the setup? If you know the film, or its origin-book (the grandmother of this show, perhaps), the story’s been very well adapted for today. Allie’s finally left her addict husband Sam (Jonny McGarrity), and moved to a dodgily-wired, big-windowed flat with her 15-year-old daughter Bella (the completely convincing Amy Snudden).
Lisa Faulkner as Allie
When Sam gets his 22-year-old girlfriend pregnant, maintenance payments change, and Allie gets a lodger to help with the bills – not least, Bella’s school fees. Down the hallway is Allie’s ‘gay best friend’ (yes, this was a bit tropey) Graham (played by Andro).
If this feels like a lot of setup, you’d be right; it felt like a lot of setup at the time. The first 10 minutes really do creak with the weight of exposition. It’s a common peril in stage adaptations; getting vital information into audiences’ brains takes far longer when you can’t zoom the room or a face in two seconds. But luckily, things pick up.
Lisa Faulkner as Allie and Kym Marsh as Hedy
The new lodger is a special flavour of awful: as familiar – and as welcome – as the smell of the school gym. Hedy (Marsh) is a horror – but Allie’s (Faulkner) invisible self-worth and wet paper bag boundaries mean she’s blind to the dangers for her daughter.
Here begins the fun. And when I say ‘fun’, I mean ‘dark, delicious delight’. Time after time, Hedy plays grim psychological games of manipulation and triangulation, ‘accidentally’ dumping Allie in it with her daughter, best friend and ex-husband. Her wicked gall is breathtaking, and it’s a joy to watch because we’re safely tucked up in our seats. Needless to say, the drama escalates…
Lisa Faulkner as Allie and Kym Marsh as Hedy
Without a doubt, this is an enjoyable, and even occasionally melodramatic, high stakes thriller. The audience absolutely loved it, and of course, that’s theatre’s pull.
Would I recommend you go? Not if you want to brood over Ibsen (why would you?!), but if it’s a cracking night of emotion, a brilliant baddie, a naive but relatable mum, and a sting in the tail of the tale that you’re after, this is definitely one for you.
Single White Female is at Theatre Royal Bath on May 19-23 at 7.30pm, with additional 2.30pm matinee shows on Wednesday and Saturday. Visit theatreroyal.org.uk for tickets.
All photos: Chris Bishop
Read next:
- Review: The Constant Wife, Theatre Royal Bath – ‘A top notch evening’
- Review: Malory Towers, Theatre Royal Bath – ‘Everything you’d expect from Emma Rice: full of strong performances, music and joyful set pieces’
- Review: Suite in Three Keys – A Song at Twilight, Theatre Royal Bath – ‘At times you could hear a pin drop’
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