Not Dead Enough at the Manchester Opera House Review

Reviewed by Ann Durrell

Award winning novelist Peter James has brought to the stage the third book in the highly successful Roy Grace series. As a fan of crime drama I am sorry to say I have not read any of the books, but I was very much looking forward to catching the stage adaptation.

The story starts with the murder of Katie Bishop, a well to do housewife who spends much of her time fundraising for charity and has friends in high places throughout the police force. Investigating her murder is DS Roy Grace, played by soap opera veteran Bill Ward. Some 10 years prior Grace’s wife disappeared after a string of murders which he was unable to solve. He is finally moving on with Cleo Morey, MTV presenter and star of strictly Laura Whitmore. Grace is trying to solve the murder of Katie Bishop whilst maintaining a relationship with Cleo whilst the ghost of his missing wife still hangs over them.

I was expecting a tense whodunnit, to be on the edge of my seat, trying to guess who the murderer is, what was delivered was a detective comedy. Bill Ward appears to have been styled to look like Kevin Whately’s Detective Robbie Lewis from Morse. Whilst in parts Ward’s delivery of the lines engages with the subject and makes his character believable, for me it felt the writing of the script let him down. Laura Whitmore, as Cleo, was less believable; I could not keep up with the variation of accents she used, seemingly flitting between southern English and Irish. It did make me wonder if Whitmore had been cast to sell tickets rather than for her acting prowess. The plot throughout became very predictable and when the baddy was revealed it felt like most of the audience groaned as we had worked it out half an hour previously.

Even the background music and sound seemed to let this play down. There appeared to be mics on the stage amplifying the on-stage sounds. There was more than one giggle from the crowd when the mobile phone sound effects were slightly off. During what were meant to be tense scenes the music did little more than provide further amusement for a slightly confused audience.

With all that said it remained watchable, it was entertaining just as long as you did not take it too seriously. I would not be rushing to watch another adaptation of Peter James novels however I may grab the book to see how it compares.

Rating: 3/5

Tickets cost from £20.40 to £42.90 (plus £4 transaction fee).

Not Dead Enough is at the Opera House in Manchester from 22-27 May 2017, for more information or to book tickets visit www.atgtickets.com/operahouse or call the box office on 0844 871 3018.

Opera House, 3 Quay Street, Manchester, M3 3HP | 0844 871 3018