Catch Me If You Can At Milton Keynes Theatre Review

Reviewed by Hilz

A really entertaining, interesting and funny play.  To get us into the mood the atmosphere was set by the music of the Rat Pack.  I think it was Bing Crosby.   This was superb before the play started and during the intervals et cetera.
The play was set in the Catskill Mountains of New York State, in a beautiful cabin, a holiday home where Daniel played by Patrick Duffy of Dallas fame had reported his wife of two weeks missing from their honeymoon.
This was three days earlier and the police inspector, played by Gray O’Brien of Coronation Street and Peak Practice fame, was heavily involved in the case of the missing Elizabeth.  Elizabeth – or is it really Elizabeth?.. – is played by the beautiful Linda Purl of ‘Happy Days’ fame. The play was actually surprisingly light hearted, and it was really pleasant enjoying the banter and the jokes that were batted about.

There was only one set, the inside of the cabin, but it worked well and nothing else seemed needed.
All the actors were very good.   The one I liked the best was actually one of the minor parts, the man who owned a local coffee and sandwich shop, Sydney.  He was totally believable.

My husbands favourite actor was the inspector Grey O’Brien, who was really expressive in his role.  The whole plot was very cleverly woven together and had more twists and turns than a fairground ride!  There was no point at which we felt bored at all.   It really kept us on our toes.  We had to concentrate or we would’ve lost the plot altogether! It kept us guessing all the way through and was pleasantly different to what we would normally watch.

The only problem was the sound.  From the moment that Patrick Duffy started speaking it was evident that it was going to be a struggle to hear.  Hearing Patrick was the hardest, but the others weren’t that much louder at times.
We made this point to one of the managers at the interval and were told that several people had said the same thing and that the sound technicians were going to increase the volume for the second half.  We were also given headsets in case we felt we needed them with instructions how to use them.  However, during the second half the sound seemed to be either only very fractionally increased or not increased at all.  It certainly was not noticeable and when we tried to use the headsets all we could hear was the crackling noise of interference, nothing from the stage at all, so sadly they were useless.  When I returned the headsets after the show, another couple were talking to the staff member and explaining that the husband had not been able to hear with the headset either and he had hearing problems which is why he was trying to use one.   The member of staff said that she would let everybody know so I’m sure it will be better tomorrow, but it did spoil it for us sadly. There’s nothing worse than straining to hear and wearing yourself out, especially when the plot is complex and you need to concentrate.

Back to a more positive note, this certainly is a very entertaining play – interesting, surprising, and funny to boot.
If they get the sound sorted it will be a really good evening out and I would definitely recommend it!

Rating: 3.5/5

“Catch me if you can” runs from Monday the 4th to Saturday, the 9th of April at 2:30 pm and 7:30 pm

Ticket prices start from £13.00 and can be purchased here or call the Box Office on 0844 871 7615

Milton Keynes Theatre, 500 Marlborough Gate, Milton Keynes MK9 3NZ