With the thriller season at The Theatre Royal drawing to a close for 2018, I went to see the final play, “The Nightmare Room” at its opening night. Based on a novel by Arthur Conan Doyle, I was expecting it to be a lot more gothic than it was, but it’s been catapulted into present times and given even a Hollywood feel…maybe.
The synopsis is this: Woman meets man, woman marries man, man is famous actor, woman’s best friend meets man, best friend and man have affair, woman finds out. If I say much more then I’m ruining the many, many, twists that this show throws at you.
Sarah Wynne Kordas plays woman, and she does an amazing job. I was dubious at first, as the character seemed a very hammy baddy in the opening scene. As the performance progressed, though, so did the character develop.
Angie Smith, who plays Best Friend, does an equally good job. Her character being the innocent victim (reminded me A LOT of Little Mo from Eastenders) to begin with, but throughout the play had our sympathy switching between the characters.
The set is simple; two white walls, one with a door, to give the appearance of a whitewashed room, a white table, two white chairs, one jug of water, two glasses, and one phial of (maybe/maybe not) poison. Scene changes were done by the means of an ominous boom, and the lights going out on stage, and then clever lighting to give the impression of a window, or driving past street lights. These were for the flashbacks that gave us more of an insight into what was happening.
What was happening? I thought I knew, and I did, and then I didn’t. Then I did again, and then I definitely knew how it was going to end, and then it just sort of…ended. There are definitely lots of plots twists, but a little predictable I felt. It was like I knew what was going to happen, sort of, so expected that not to happen, but it did. However, I really did enjoy it. It didn’t always make sense, some of the flashbacks didn’t seem to add anything to the play, but it was enjoyable. Bad enough that it was good.
It is showing until 25 August, for more information and tickets click here.
Review by Johnny Banks
