Single White Female
Theatre Royal Brighton
until Saturday 17th January
Single White Female is a 1992 American psychological erotic thriller based on the 1990 novel SWF Seeks Same by John Lutz. The film stars Bridget Fonda and Jennifer Jason Leigh and follows recently estranged Allison Jones (Fonda), who begins to rent an apartment room to Hedra Carlson (Leigh). Shortly after Hedy moves in, Allie begins to notice strange patterns of behaviour in her tenant.
Despite being a box office success, the film received mixed reviews from critics, although both Fonda and Leigh received praise for their performances which makes the decision to adapt it for the stage and set it in modern day Elephant and Castle rather baffling. I’m guessing a cast of only 5 (low wage bill) and an almost locked room setting (cheap, characterless set) proved too much for someone to resist the opportunity to send out this tatty production to tour the provinces for 5 months and trust me, shows don’t come much more low-rent than this.
Let’s start with the positives. Kym Marsh gives an assured performance in the role of Hedy however like the rest of the cast is hampered by a poor script which focuses far too hard on the inclusion of references to social media, body shaming and weight control drugs. Rebecca Reid who is listed as the adaptor has also rather clumsily dropped references into the dialogue that are then used as plot devices later in the story. A window that shouldn’t be opened and a pair of expensive stilettos (Italian for a small, pointed dagger) are shoe-horned into the script (no pun intended) in a way that is about as subtle as a heavy duty sledgehammer.
Amy Snudden as Allie’s 15 year old daughter Bella is excellent although no Year 11 girl that I know would wear her school skirt below the knee. Elsewhere, Lisa Faulkner as Allie, Andro as Allie’s stereotypical gay business partner Graham and Jonny McGarrity as her alcoholic, estranged husband try very hard however they are also restricted by heavy-handed direction, unimaginative lighting design and the overwhelming sound design that is determined to take centre stage no matter what. The bursts of rock music that frequently cut in to denote a passage of time feel anachronistic and the sound effect for the apartment block’s lift is so loud I half expected it to appear via the fly system.
As the plot unfolds the audience became more and more unwilling to accept the ridiculous twists and turns with many people including this reviewer finding the whole thing simply funny. Indeed, it became a farce – in the worst possible way.
Don’t take my word for it, there are plenty of venues to catch the tour and it’s possible you will enjoy the production – especially if you are a fan of The Play That Goes Wrong.
⭐⭐
Reviewer: Patric Kearns
Cast
Hedy: Kym Marsh
Allie: Lisa Faulkner
Bella: Amy Snudden
Graham: Andro
Sam: Jonny McGarrity