Wish You Were Dead 

The Alexandra Theatre

Birmingham 

20th - 24th June 2023

Act I - 45 minutes 

Interval - 20 minutes 

Act II - 50 minutes 
 

Joshua Andrews and Peter James present Clive Mantle, Katie McGlynn, George Rainsford in Peter James, 'Wish You Were Dead.' Adapted by Shaun McKenna and directed by Jonathan O'Boyle. 

When you go on holiday getting murdered is 'generally not at the forefront of our minds,' but murder is exactly what confronts Detective Superintendent Roy Grace (George Rainsford) and Cleo Grace (Katie McGlynn) when they take their break from fighting crime and the mortuary, in the delights of rural France at the Château-sur-L'Évêque.

The performance, although much shorter compared with most I've reviewed previously was devilishly gripping throughout and time passed extraordinarily quickly. I must add a word of caution that the production contains some offensive language, scenes of violence, the use of firearms, strobe/flashing lights which will offend or upset some members of the audience. 

It was disappointing to see quite a few empty seats around the auditorium, especially with a production containing three well respected actors from screen and stage (Clive Mantle, Katie McGlynn, George Rainsford), hopefully this will change later in the week. 

Act One, I felt was slow to start but left you 'hanging on' at the interval and it all unraveled and became clear in Act Two where all the action and drama unfolded. 

Clive Mantle (Curtis) commanded the stage in Act Two and delighted the audience with his charismatic charm and what one only could call his sadistic humour! Special mention must go to Rebecca McKinnis whose character, Madame L'Évêque charmed us and took our breath away in Act One, was very comical and serious which drew the audience in; however, during Act Two her true character evolved (spoiler alert) and became Clive Mantle's sidekick!!

The stage set was perfect and fantastic, capturing and captivating the audience, leaving you on the edge of your seat, wondering and imagining what was coming next from the different parts of the stage, combined with dramatic lighting and loud sound effects made many viewers quite jumpy with horror! With these dramatic effects unfolding before our eyes an insane and phenomenal, almost illusional kidnap scene set in the attic appeared towards the top of the set , fading in and out very unexpectedly at dramatic intervals.  

Personally I would rate the play a 3/5 star rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️