THEATRE REVIEW: Dead Lies - The Grand Theatre, Blackpool

‘Dead Lies’ is a curious play to categorise because it is not quite a political drama in the accepted sense of the term whilst being only to some extent a genuine thriller. It is certainly an interesting and engaging play, bringing together past indiscretions, blackmail and murder, with the most up-to-date political scenario, including the invasion of Ukraine and even a Tory M.P. viewing porn in the commons (a story scarcely one month old).

The play starts with an interesting premise; what if in today’s political world, a new party with a charismatic leader suddenly emerged called ‘People First’ which gained rapid support and stood poised to win the next general election? The party leader Peter George, played by Jeremy Edwards, is very much of the 2015 General Election stock (when it seemed that to lead a major party, you had to be a white male in your forties with savvy dress sense and neatly trimmed hair). Much has changed of course changed since then but Peter George came over as a compelling and dynamic man of the people who rose above party dogmas on a ticket of genuine care for the public coupled with honesty and integrity.

The production was a stylised form of minimalism with several tall video screens in line giving a selection of associated images rather than a single, representation back screen. This worked well with static images giving way to TV news footage as a means of moving the story along. Somewhat oddly however, whenever George gave a speech, it was in front on 10 Downing Street, even though he was not the P.M., but that is a minor point. With minimal props, the scenes relied on the acting, which was generally very convincing. However, the production would have benefitted from more amplification; at times (sitting in the circle), it was very hard to hear what was being said, especially when certain actors lowered their voices.

In terms of creating tension, the play is much a slow-burner with any element of blackmail or death not introduced until well into the first half. After the interval, there was a marked increase in pace and the story certainly had many unexpected twists and turns building up to a genuinely gripping final confrontation. That said, the behind-scenes observation of a rising politician handling the media and working with advisors is an interesting subject in its own right and well observed here, at times with echoes of Johnson/Cummings or Blair/Campbell relationships. The adviser here, Alicia Charles, played by Kate Compton, had the added dynamic of being Anglo-American whilst having a complicated relationship with George. There is also nice depictions of a leading political journalist, played by Alan Parfitt and the ‘supportive political wife’, played by Portia Booroff.

The story line of a small party with a popular leader seemingly going places only to be suddenly brought crashing down by a sex and murder scandal had echoes of Jeremy Thorpe in the '70s. Perhaps it was not a coincidence that both George (played by a Jeremy) and Thorpe both had North Devon constituencies! All the same, this is certainly a play for today and a telling reminder of how events and people from the past can emerge to destroy present success.

‘Dead Lies’ certainly ticks several boxes and viewed as a whole is well worth seeing. Audiences expecting an edge-of-the-seat thriller might be disappointed, but this play never intends to be in the same genre of say ‘Dressed To Kill’ or ‘Death Trap’, and it is certainly much more grounded in realism and credibility.

Reviewer - John Waterhouse
on - 20.5.22