Crime is big business, whether that be true crime podcasts, thriller TV shows and, of course, crime novels, which are, probably, the biggest selling genre of book. Among the best loved of these is the Peter James’ series featuring the much loved detective Roy Grace. Such is the success of this series of books that several have been adapted to stage – the latest being Picture You Dead, which is the show I found myself checking out at the Theatre Royal this week.
Going into this I have to admit I knew little about Peter James’ series, but that in itself meant I was able to head along not really knowing what to expect other than the show related to fine art. I have to be honest, I was expecting a thriller type show, what I got was an absolute joyous blast of two hours of laughs, twists, crosses, double crosses and triple crosses.
Without giving too much away the story is based around the aforementioned DSI Grace, played by George Rainsford, investigating a cold case murder of somebody connected with the art community, this leads the detective to cross paths with a whole host of interesting characters.
Among them is former master forger turned master copyist Dave Hagarty, who happens to be based on real life former forger David Henty, and is played brilliantly by former Coronation Street star Peter Ash – check out our interview with him here. Ash is an absolute delight, clearly relishing the role and bouncing off every single character.
Another stand out is the wonderful Nicholas Maude as the suspicious art dealer Stuart Piper who absolutely owns the stage whenever he steps foot on it, his character is pompous, patronising, threatening and just delightful, and his chemistry with his art “finder” Roberta (Jodie Steele in fantastic form).
Caught up in it all are everyday couple Harry and Freya Kipling, who are just looking for a lucky break but when they find one in a lost painting they get caught up in the darker side of art. Ben Cutler and Fiona Wade work wonderfully well together as they try to keep up as their life spirals out of control.
The supporting cast are all fantastic, and a particular delight was seeing Adam Morris as presenter Oliver De Souza, many TV lovers of my age will probably recognise Adam best for his role as the hapless Robin in the wonderful Maid Marian and her Merry Men,so it was a thrilling bit of nostalgia to see Adam on stage – even if we didn’t recognise him at first – and he was a riot in the short time he was on stage.
I don’t want to say too much more about the show, there are too many twists and turns to risk spoiling anything, but it was extremely good fun, with plenty of laughs, a few jumps (including lightning as my partner can attest), plenty of intrigue, and a whole lot of art.
I came out of the show having not only thoroughly enjoyed my evening but also with the urge to check out the book on which the show was based, so I would certainly call that win.
Picture You Dead is at the Nottingham Theatre Royal until Saturday 15 March, for more information and tickets visit the website
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