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Looking Good Dead

Looking Good Dead is a book by UK best-selling crime and thriller writer Peter James.

Tom Bryce is a struggling businessman who’s trying to get himself out of debt while his alcoholic wife keeps spending money. Whilst on his usual train journey home he realises someone has left a memory stick on a seat, he innocently takes it home thinking he’ll do a good deed and return it.

Once he gets home Tom puts the stick into his computer and his techno-whizz son Max, breaks the password to reveal a horrifying video and now their lives are in danger!

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The adaptation from book to play has been carefully crafted by Shaun McKenna to keep the same story, however it’s been translated for a live performance and to keep the audience engaged with the thriller as it unfolds.

We have a dysfunctional family pretending all is well, however we have murders, kidnapping, ransom demands, and a Detective who doesn’t think all is what it seems. There are twists and unexpected turns to keep you guessing – by the end of the first half, after the set-up, you think you have a good idea who is behind the murder – but of course we have many more twists to come in the second half.

Although there is a lot going on, it’s not difficult to follow, however there were a couple of unanswered questions when I left the theatre. The play is based in real time but the plot is fantasy, so suspending your disbelief for a few of the plot twists is advisable and just go with it. There were a few cheap laughs which I couldn’t see the point of – it’s a crime thriller, no jokes were needed to ‘lighten the mood’, however some audience members appreciated them.

It’s a big story and it has been squeezed into the two hour play so it moves along quickly and there is a huge amount of dialogue for the main characters – well done to them for being able to get through all of that every night.

A very well thought out set to be able to depict the three main scenes: Inside the Bryce family home was the main stage setting; a sliding section for the police station with appropriate lighting to ignore the rest of the stage; and the lounge wall of the family home became transparent to show the murder scenes. Very creative and it worked a treat.

A great cast list including big names Adam Woodyatt and Gaynor Faye which is fabulous to see in Norwich.

The actors all played their parts well although I didn’t particularly feel emotionally attached to the characters and there was a lack of atmosphere, maybe because the tempo didn’t suit the dramatic nature of a crime thriller. However overall it was an enjoyable performance and I was surprised with the last couple of plot twists as I didn’t see them coming.

Looking Good Dead is running at Norwich Theatre Royal until the 30th October: norwichtheatre.org and continues on tour around the country.

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