Picture You Dead at the Alexandra Theatre

AnxiousTheatregoer
Jul 18
5 min read

Picture You Dead is the picture of a fabulous play adaptation from a book. Having previously seen Wish You Were Dead, I knew I wouldn’t be caught dead not seeing this show. I do not have knowledge of the Peter James series past these two plays; however, I can say that despite this, I have thoroughly enjoyed being able to see his work on the stage.

This venue features a step-free entrance next to the stage door, which allows patrons requiring level access to enter the venue into the auditorium without encountering any steps. This is fabulous to see and is only one of the ways that this venue champions accessibility.

*POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD*

My Review:

Picture You Dead is based on the novel of the same name by Peter James and follows Detective Inspector Roy Grace (George Rainsford) as he investigates a string of murders that seem to be linked to the underground art world. This novel has been adapted for the stage by Shaun McKenna and the world is brought to life through both his work and the work of other creatives involved in this project, which include Jonathon O’Boyle (Director), Adrian Linford (Designer), Jason Taylor (Lighting Designer) and Max Pappenheim (Composer & Sound Designer).

The show is led by the investigations of Roy Grace (George Rainsford) as he and his partner Bella Moy (Gemma Stroyan) enquire into some murders, both old and new, that seem to have some link to a painting seen on the Antiques Roadshow presented by Oliver De Souza (Adam Morris). This show was perfectly reworked for the stage, with the performers flowing from scene to scene and between locations without interrupting or detracting from the story. I was particularly impressed by the set design, which was able to combine the three main home locations and also allowed the police station to be highlighted across the front of the stage. Using lighting to highlight the area that was being used for a particular scene allowed the audience's focus to subtly be forced into the direction of the area of the set that was being used, and I felt that this style of set design, which did not require full set piece changes, was very engaging to see as an audience member.

George Rainsford brilliantly brings the character of Roy Grace to life. After seeing him play the same role in Wish You Were Dead, I went in knowing that he already had an understanding of the role, and it was wonderful to see him use that to further his portrayal of the character. Joining Roy Grace in his investigation is Bella Moy (Gemma Stroyan), who was fabulous as the more level-headed of the two detectives, as shown by her ability to not be swayed by seeming friendship from past criminals. The pair perfectly complemented each other and were fabulous at guiding the developing plot. Playing the clear adversary of Roy Grace is Ore Oduba as Stuart Piper, I thoroughly enjoyed his balance when portraying this egotistical yet calculating character, and I felt that his characterisation allowed Stuart Piper to feel more terrifying to the audience as his quick changes from calmness to torture further highlighted the unpredictability of the character, thus leaving the audience on their toes throughout the show. His partner in crime throughout the events of the show (or so it seems) is Roberta Kilgore (Jodie Steele). Jodie Steele is an incredible actress, as this show once again highlighted her in-depth understanding of all the roles she plays and her commitment to true and powerful portrayals. It was fabulous to see her lean into the character's calculating and selfish nature, and she was truly intimidating and terrifying during certain scenes, which is further testament to her ability to engage and affect the audience without breaking the fourth wall. The couple that this story centres around and the pair that brought the painting to the Antiques Roadshow are Freya (Fiona Wade) and Harry (Ben Cutler) Kipling. The duo interact with each other fabulously and are able to quickly establish the loving nature of their relationship, which makes later events even more heartbreaking and any turns even more shocking. Throughout the story, their portrayals remained strong, and I greatly enjoyed seeing them interact or perform as individuals in any scenes they were involved in. Despite only appearing in a short segment, Adam Morris was fabulous as Oliver De Souza. His ability to bring such a fun character to life using only shorter moments of the play was amazing to see. The main ex-criminal featured in this show is Dave Hegarty (Mark Oxtoby), and it must be said that he was one of my favourite characters in the play. He was brought to life with this light-hearted energy, but through carefully placed actions and mannerisms, audiences are left questioning his integrity throughout, and this is all down to the characterisation by Mark Oxtoby. The other criminal involved in the plot is Archie Goff (Sean Jones), who plays a pivotal role in this story, taking a darker turn and creating a shock that certainly got me. Most of his interactions were with Ore Oduba and Jodie Steele, and it was brilliant to watch them play off each other to highlight the much more sinister side of the art world in this story.

This is certainly one for true crime and mystery fans alike to catch whilst it is on tour!

Content Warnings:

The theatre has warnings on display, which are as follows:

This show contains

Smoke
Flashing Lights
Loud Noises
Strong Language
Violence
Use of Weapons
Torture
Depiction of Dead Bodies

Watching this show, I realised that some of these warnings were not as clear as they could have been, and this is what I made a note of with regards to the lack of clarity:

Torture by Physical Means
- a character is hit both with hands and a gun before fearing that they are going to be burned alive (this does not happen)
- another character is tortured by similar means but is not killed, only injured
Torture by Deprivation of Medication - a character withholds insulin from another character as a means of manipulation and torture
Death by Fire - a character dies in a fire, but the audience doesn’t see this happen (occurs behind a door, so it is mostly implied by prior events)
Death by Heart Attack - a character suffers a heart attack whilst being tortured, which happens in front of the audience (mentioned earlier that the character has heart problems)
The show features tense moments created by music and lighting, such as before a dead body is revealed on stage

Thank you for taking the time to read and I hope this review has proved interesting and helpful for you :)

- AnxiousTheatregoer