Theatre Review: Single White Female at The Alhambra

Following a well-worn path of screen to stage 90s’ adaptations, psychological thriller Single White Female is modernised for contemporary audiences. While the 1992 film starring Bridget Fonda and Jennifer Jason Leigh remained faithful to John Lutz’s original book, SWF Seeks Same, this new theatrical revamp is very loosely-based on the original, taking only the character names and basic premise. Lots of contemporary references like Ozempic are occasionally clunkily dropped in by adaptor, Rebecca Reid, to update the story.

Reid shifts the play’s location to a modern apartment block, alters characters’ back-stories and adds in new central characters with mixed success. As the plot unfolds primarily in the flat Allie owns, the film seems almost perfect for theatrical adaptation and Designer Morgan Large’s functional kitchen-diner certainly doesn’t detract from the action, adding to the tension with its faulty circuitry. The addition of Amy Snudden’s vulnerable character, Bella, also ups the stakes while the extra plots twists Reid gives her character feel a little unnecessary.

Billed to play Allie was screen actor, TV presenter and celebrity chef, Lisa Faulkner who unfortunately bowed out of the performance leaving understudy, Anna Ruben, to step up. The last-minute change left some audience members audibly disappointed and arguably jeopardised whatever on-stage rapport cast members already had. That said, although audio was a little quiet, none of the cast singularly marred the production but something lacked.

Hear-say’s Kym Marsh was great in the role of Hedy and newcomer Snudden gave an especially strong performance too. Both supporting male characters (Andro as Allie’s pal Graham and Jonny McGarrity as her ex- Sam) were rather wet but that may be more of a fault in Reid’s script that felt like it needed further fine-tuning.

Known already for being a camp thriller, Gordon Greenberg’s take on Single White Female reaches whole new levels through directional decisions surely played solely to elicit laughs, sometimes slightly inappropriately. Opening flash-forwards very obviously signpost foreshadowing and scene transitions messily jar, perhaps to unsettle the audience. Sound Designer Max Pappenheim’s accompanying soundtrack, while enjoyable, feels misjudged and at times a bit random.

Despite the show’s faults, Single White Female remained utterly compelling; Marsh expertly manipulates in scenes to make your skin crawl. A captivating car crash with farcical elements.