Fatal Attraction ★★★ Richmond Theatre | March 22 - 26, 2022


Fatal Attraction is a terrifying cautionary tale about playing around on the side. Dan Gallagher (Oliver Farnworth) has a good marriage and a successful career, but temptation leads him astray and he pays quite a price. Gallagher is a lawyer who admits that he is less concerned about whether his client is guilty than whether he can use the rules of the legal game to get him off. However, when this none-too-scrupulous lawyer breaks the rules of the marital fidelity convention, he finds himself plunged into a world of neither rules nor morality. Alex Forrest (Susie Amy) is everyone's nightmare one-night-stand and the audience alternately cowers and titters nervously as she wreaks her revenge on Gallagher. An interesting motif shows her as a vengeful Madame Butterfly not content to just accept her lot at the hands of a philandering male. This Butterfly wields a samurai sword of malevolent stratagems to punish her perceived betrayer and the tension throughout the piece is palpable. However, the tautness is too often broken by Gallagher's asides to the audience which explicate, rather than making us feel, his emotions. Similarly, the acting throughout often lacks sufficient nuance to create a genuine engagement with the characters. With the exception of Louise Redknapp who sometimes hits a more natural note as the deceived wife, Beth, it is all a bit one-dimensional and lacking subtlety. Nevertheless, you will probably get a few palpitations for your pound and we guarantee you'll be thinking twice if temptation comes your way.

Rated: ★★★

Reviewed by J.C.
Photo by Tristram Kenton.

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When, Where, Getting there:
Map & Location: 1 Little Grn, Richmond TW9 1QH, UK

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