“Kiss of Death” by Simon Williams

Nottingham Theatre Royal

Week number three of the Colin McIntyre Classic Thriller Season, performed by Tabs Theatre Company and this is very different to what we have seen before, very "Line Of Duty".

Actress Zoe Lang, attends a quite unusual improvisation workshop and finds herself auditioning to be the bait for a real-life serial killer. Taking on the role of a young runaway, Natasha Campion, Zoe meets the sinister and manipulative John Smith. Layer upon layer of twisted unreality is stripped away as Zoe and the police home in on their target. But what is the truth and who is not as they seem to be?

“Kiss of Death” is a very modern thriller, set in 2000, with plenty of dark humour and literature quotations to punctuate its menacing atmosphere.

Bernard (Jeremy Lloyd Thomas) starts out very mono syllabic when we first meet him as the welcome committee for Zoe, but it's what he says that you need to cling to as there are several clues that make you think that all is not as it seems, as we get into the story and discover the characters. And watch out for why he wears those shades indoors!

Brocklebank (Cameron Johnson) turns out to be a complex character. Like an onion, he has many skins and at well over six foot tall and broadly built, Cameron presents a police officer that you'd feel safe with. He is the leader of the operation to snag "The Surgeon", a psychopathic serial killer who carves up his female victims.

Lang (Anna Mitchum) is a streetwise and extremely smart woman who takes on the role of a street living Uni drop out, living on the streets, vulnerable and fitting the ideal target for The Surgeon. But is Lang too smart for her own good? Campion is given a whole back history, but The Surgeon also seems to know about dark secrets that Zoe keeps. How does he know that when her medical records are private? What access has this serial killer got to his victims' private lives?

Smith (Andrew Ryan) is the ultimate in creepiness as he appears to Lang. Campion dressed in black, complete with black ski mask. He is creepy and has written out the opening meeting for them both to act out when he gets Zoe in his dingy flat, door locked, and no escape. If he is as dangerous as we are led to believe though, why did he let Zoe go, only to reel her back into his den. Like catching a prize fish, only to be let go to be caught again!

Directed by Karen Henson, she has really created an atmosphere with this play. It is creepy, uncomfortable and it's not until the last ten minutes or so that you actually cotton on to what is happening and who The Surgeon really is.

The set design is by Sarah Wynne Kordas and is mainly set in an old lecture theatre and within John Smith’s derelict flat, complete with peeling walls, flickering lights and damp. Just the sort of place a serial killer might hang out!

Lighting design is by Michael Donoghue, and this plays a big part in creating the atmosphere and uncomfortable feeling. proper edge of the seat stuff!

Sound design is by David Gilbrook. Well, David always delivers where the sound design is. Every sound effect is spot on. So natural that it's like you are a fly on the wall with everything you'd expect to be hearing, when you'd expect to hear it.

This really is one of the best plays that Tabs have presented, and that is hard for me to say as every play is a sure-fire hit, whether it is a comedy thriller or be it, like this one, a proper psychological, white knuckle, edge of the seat piece of theatre.

“Kiss Of Death” is at the Nottingham Theatre Royal until Saturday 10 July.