Fatal Attraction the play is based on the 1987 psychological thriller of the same name, staring Glenn Close & Michael Douglas. I quickly watched the film trailer before the play to get an idea of what it was about and it’s 100% on my “to watch” list now!
James Dearden’s new stage play of Fatal Attraction brings the movie thriller to the UK stage once again and I’m so happy about that!
The story is very easy to follow, Dan Gallagher (Oliver Farnworth) is a married New York lawyer, and whilst his wife Beth (Susie Amy) and young daughter are away house hunting for the weekend, he finds himself having an extra-marital affair with editor Alex (Kym Marsh).
After 2 nights of passion, Dan returns home and tries to forget the huge mistake he has made however Alex won’t let it go and ends up becoming obsessed with Dan and tries to sabotage his marriage and life.
I’ve got to admit that when I heard Kim Marsh was cast in the play, I was super excited! I was a MASSIVE Hear Say fan back in the early noughties and was devastated when she left. However, saying that Kym Marsh has come a long way since those Pure & Simple days.
Marsh’s portrayal of Alex I thought was fantastic! Her American accent was uncanny (you couldn’t hear any of her Merseyside accent) she played the part so well, I knew she could act from her Coronation Street days but never like this! Fantastic.
Susie Amy, yes Chardonnay from Footballers Wives (something else I was obsessed with back in the noughties) plays the role of Beth, Dan’s wife and does a great job of playing the victim (Amy wasn’t on stage as much as Marsh & Farnworth, but did a fantastic job)
And adulterer Dan Gallagher is played by Oliver Farnworth, another ex-Coronation Street star, who’s lack of willpower puts not only his life at danger, but also his wife and young daughters. Great role for Farnworth, you just wanted him to see sense and cut ties, but he doesn’t which is a good job really, otherwise there wouldn’t be a show!
Visually I thought the staging was great, modern, very simple yet powerful with the stage screens changing scene to scene to represent where the characters were. The screens also doubled up as FaceTime calls when the characters called each other which was clever (something which wouldn’t have been possible in 1987, so its been brought up to date).
I loved Fatal Attraction the play and would 100% recommend it to you all, not once did I look at my watch to see what the time was, I was fixated with the characters and the storyline. I’m kind of happy I didn’t watch the film prior, as I went in with an open mind and only a basic understanding on what was going to happen.
Fatal Attraction is only at the Theatre Royal Brighton until Saturday 22nd January 2022 but fear not as it’s on tour so hopefully in a town near you! Click HERE to book tickets, you won’t be disappointed.