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James M. Cain’s tale of murder and betrayal remains a classic of hard boiled crime fiction. Younger audiences may not remember Double Indemnity, Billy Wilder’s extraordinary film noir starring Fred MacMurray as the smart aleck insurance salesman drawn into a murderous scheme by the ultimate femme fatale, played by Barbara Stanwyck. In this stage adaptation, Tom Holloway has altered the names of the two central characters slightly, but their personalities remain recognisably the same. As the fast talking operator who is thoroughly outmanoeuvred by a seductive schemer, Ciarán Evans serves as both narrator and protagonist. For the most part he captures the stylised delivery associated with the genre, though there are moments when the performance tips from deliberate artifice into something that feels a little forced. The production also struggles with its central relationship. Mischa Barton cannot quite match Stanwyck’s glacial brilliance, and her seductive power and calculated manipulation of her lover never fully convince. The evening’s most satisfying performance comes from Martin Marquez as Keyes, Evans’s clear sighted mentor who gradually sees through the fraud being carried out. Marquez creates a performance that is both believable and faithful to the conventions of noir. He treads the delicate line between authenticity and caricature with admirable precision. However, such strong individual performances can only take a production so far. The greater challenge lies in translating Cain’s tightly-wound narrative to the stage. Cain’s novel remains a treat for mystery enthusiasts, a story with more turns than a mountain pass. The difficulty for this adaptation lies in its pacing. The first act drags somewhat as the characters are introduced and the groundwork is laid, while the second becomes crowded and occasionally confusing as the plot’s complications begin to pile up. Striking the right balance is no easy task, and this production does not always manage it. Reservations aside, the piece retains much of the wicked pleasure that made the story famous. It may not capture all the lethal elegance of Wilder’s film, but it still delivers enough intrigue and moral darkness to introduce Cain’s deliciously twisted tale to a new generation of theatre goers.
Rated: ★★★
Reviewed by J.C.
Photo by Manuel Harlan
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