"The Business Of Murder" by Richard Harris.

Tabs Productions.

Colin McIntyre Classic Thriller Season 2025.

Nottingham Theatre Royal.

This psychological thriller about revenge focuses on the three-way relationship between Dee, a successful television playwright; Hallet, a Detective Superintendent; and Stone, a humourless, prissy man. But what is their connection to each other?

Dee arrives at Stone's flat, having accepted an invitation to discuss a murder mystery story written by Stone's wife. She is rather surprised when Hallett, with whom we discover she is having an affair, also arrives, apparently to investigate a matter concerning Stone's son and his involvement with a drug ring. But where are Stone's wife and son? After many twists and turns, Stone's intentions become clear as he slowly reveals the precise nature of the trio's relationship: all three are very much concerned with the business of murder.

I had not heard of this play previously, neither had I heard of the playwright. After doing a bit of detective work myself I found out that, while I hadn't heard of Harris, I had definitely seen some of his work over the years. Harris had written episodes of The Avengers, The Sweeney, Target, The Saint and Shoestring among his many credits.

With these credits it's no wonder that this play is incredibly good. It's a very cleverly scripted thriller which has every detail worked out to the smallest element, and even things that you thought were trivial return to the storyline later on down the line and fit like a jigsaw piece.

Needless to say, to bring such a wonderfully clever and entertaining script to life, it takes an incredible cast, and with this trio, and direction of the actors, this play I feel has to be one of my favourites. It's also one of the finest performances I have seen from Tabs Productions; taking nothing away from their long history of incredible performances over the years.

John Goodrum plays DS Hallett, and it's really nice to see a couple of role reversals in this play. John plays the sinister one a lot of times, and plays them with excellence, but here he plays the law contingent. OK, Hallett may bend the rules slightly, but basically he's the "good guy" with the Cockney swagger. Close your eyes and you could imagine David Jason on stage in this role. There's just a couple of moments where we see Hallett's steely exterior slip and the nerves show; but what has Hallett got to be nervous about?

Sarah Wynne Kordas plays Dee. It's lovely to see the character get ever the more nervous around Stone as his story slowly unravels and makes Dee practically fall apart in front of your eyes. I love Sarah's physical performance of this character and you can see her whole body shaking with fear at some of the things that Stone was saying. Sarah is a brilliant character actor and playing Dee just has to be one of my favourite roles that she has played, mainly because she transmitted her character's nervousness to the audience.

Stone is played by David Gilbrook and as with John, this is a role that is very different to many of the others I've seen David perform. Stone is one of those villains who does not look villainous, quite plain looking, but how looks can be deceiving as we all soon found out. This is a very wordy play and David gets the lion's share of the script. This role also shows his ability to play clever, devious and dangerous people. It's not that often that we get to see David in such a meaty role, but when he does, he really shines, as he does here.

Directed by Karen Henson. I've placed in print just how much of a fan I am of Karen as a Director, as well as an actor, and in this play really brings out the steady approach of menace up to the end of the first act, which then continues to raise the nervous feelings all the way through to the final twist at the end. I'll say it again, this is one of the best thrillers that I have seen in all the years that I've been attending the Colin McIntyre Classic Thriller Seasons, and it's all due to the actors and Directors who bring out the best of the scripts and the actors.

Set Design is by Conal Walsh. The play is set in the first floor flat situated in a London suburb in the 1980's near Wimbledon Common. Stylishly decorated, for the period, showing a living room area and kitchen with a bedroom door to stage right and just upstage of that the entranceway from the front door.

I am always impressed by Tabs Productions' array of props, I think that I may have mentioned this area in previous reviews, and the sourcing of said props is all credit to Alison Wilcox.

Geoff Gilder is in charge of the wardrobe side of the production, and the costumes are a vital part of the storyline of the show - without giving anything away. This is another part of the show that threw me slightly, but it all became apparent the further you get into the story. Typically early 1980s which straight away gets you anchored into the appropriate time zone of the play.

Lighting Designer is Duncan Hands, who also doubles up as Production Manager. Nothing fancy in this department but often simple lighting design is all that is required.

Sound Design is by David Gilbrook, not sure who operated the sound but this area was carried out, as usual, perfectly.

Fran Buxey also gets a mention for her work as Deputy Stage Manager.

The first night of the final production was a bar raiser, showing that even after all these years, Tabs Productions continue to produce classic shows to an exceptional standard, and they never fail to entertain, whether that be in a comedy thriller or a serious murder mystery such as this. I can't wait to see what next year's season brings, all I know is that these Thriller seasons get better every single year. After all, who doesn't love a murder mystery and who doesn't love a Whodunnit?

"The Business Of Murder" is at the Nottingham Theatre Royal until Saturday 30 August.