Wish You Were Dead

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Detective Superintendent Roy Grace returns to the stage this week, with a fresh new case to solve as his day job catches up with his home life, delivering a holiday from hell. With an all star cast and already being hailed as the new Agatha Christie of theatre, Peter James’ Wish You Were Dead promises to be a case you won’t let get cold.

Long queues at the airport, lost bags, food poisoning, false advertising, we’ve all had holidays that don’t quite live up to scratch. But nothing can compare to the latest instalment in the DCI Grace saga. Grace just wants to get away from Brighton to a French Château with wife and new-born son, but his past might have other plans. The stakes have never been higher for the detective and the audience is kept on a knife edge until the final curtain drop. For fans of the books, or the show starring John Simm, this production is not to be missed.

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Starring Waterloo Road and Coronation Street alumni Katie McGlynn, Call The Midwife’s George Rainsford and Game Of Thrones’ Clive Mantel, the cast is a who’s who of TV talent. Rainsford did a good job bringing Grace to life on stage and managed to get the exasperation of the character across, but I did feel he needed to be a bit more grizzled for a detective that’s seen as much as he has by this point in his career. Clive Mantel really did bring the menace however and I think even managed to terrify some of the front row let alone the characters on stage. For me it was McGlynn who brought a good deal of the atmosphere to the show and raised the tension on stage, keeping the audience invested as the holiday went from bad to worse.

The sets for this show are constructed in classic fashion for a Peter James show. They’re bulky, static, authentic and have many hidden secrets. The layers the actors can move across on the stage give a great depth to the show, and its a real thrill for the audience when a new element of the set is revealed. The château was brought to life by the props, sound, and lighting but it felt lived in by the cast, who embodied the space impressively so while there were no set changes, the show still felt dynamic and fast paced.

Overall, Wish You Were Dead is another exciting addition to the Roy Grace theatrical universe and should not be missed by any fan of Peter James’ work, or by a regular old armchair sleuth. Mysteries are some of my favourite genre of play to see on stage and this one didn’t disappoint. Although not a classic whodunnit, it did keep me guessing how this would all play out right through the dramatic final act. As more of Peter James’ books are adapted for the stage you can bet, I’ll be first in line to get my tickets in the future.

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