“Murder With Love” by Francis Durbridge
Nottingham Theatre Royal

This is one of those plays where I can honestly say that I was NOT expecting that final twist!!

Columnist Jo Mitchell is anxious to retrieve some incriminating letters from Larry Campbell who has just returned from the United States where he has been promoting his brother Roy's new invention.

Roy's wife Dylis doesn't trust Larry, so she consults with lawyer Ernest Foster who is friendly with barrister David Ryder whose wife died while having an affair with womaniser Larry, now living with actress Clare Norman who is suspicious of his relationship with a woman he met while in the States, Beth, while George Rudd seems to have enough connection with any of them to be able to resort to blackmail.

Just when you think you may have an inkling on who may have bumped off Larry, in comes another herring of the red variety - or is it a herring? Something is definitely fishy but which one or ones are responsible?

Jeremy Lloyd Thomas (Larry Campbell) returns and Campbell is killed off in the first Act.Surely not you may cry! He seems to have a list of enemies, but who would want to see him silenced the most, and why?

Sarah Wynne Kordas (Jo Mitchell) gets to wear an incredibly glamorous wig; I had to look twice as it changed her whole look. Jo is one of those in the frame for Campbell's murder because of what was in those letters that Campbell held. In act two there's also quite a physical scene which looked so realistic, I was quite worried that Sarah may have been hurt if she had landed awkwardly. A wonderful piece of stunt work.

Susan Earnshaw (Mrs Bedford) plays such a busy character, seeing all of those visitors to the Mitchell residence. I bet Mrs B could tell some tales!! Surely Mrs B must be one of the few not suspected, she's such a lovely down to earth character.

David Martin (Earnest Foster) plays a character who seems to be in the suspect file; could this character really be involved? But if that's so, why did Earnest pay a visit to Campbell's flat on the night of the murder?

Andrew Ryan (David Ryder), also gets to don a wig, but nothing could mask those distinctive features. Ryder, from early on seems to be the murderer, but then in come those twists and turns that almost make you query what you've seen with your own eyes.

Chris Sheridan (George Rudd), gets to play two villains in two weeks,this time with a different accent. This time around his villainy is petty, a bit of underworld stuff, a bit of blackmail. Rudd sees a lot but could that be his downfall? Classic East End villain, and I was a bit worried that his flares would trip him, and his platforms up and that would be his downfall. Great costumes.

David Gilbrook (Roy Campbell) plays Larry's brother. Another character that may have an underlying motive to see his brother off. David brings just the right amount of dither to the role that kind of makes you think that it couldn't be Roy embroiled in this murder plot.

Anna Mitcham (Claire Norman) gets to play another powerful character in week two of the 2019 Classic Thriller Season, and while last week she played a blind woman, this time could not be more different, as she had her eyes wide open to what was going on. Claire is sexy, powerful and appears to be in control.....of everything in her life.But didn't she have an alibi at the time of Larry's death? Oh Anna, you really had my brain working overtime with this role.

John Goodrum (Cleaver) brings the Columbo to the stage in his character. The characteristics, movements, pauses are all similar to one of my favourite TV detectives, even down to the raincoat. Loved the way he added comedy to the role, especially in his "boyish" speech in act two, which raised more than a chuckle from the eager audience, causing an hiatus to the growing tension in the play.

Directed by Karen Henson. Need I say more? Karen is a massive Durbridge fan, so this really is a labour of love for Karen, and we loved this play. What would a Thriller Season be without a touch of Durbridge anyway?

Set Design by Sarah Wynne Kordas, and I personally love the attention to detail. The set was split in two - Campbell's orange and brown flat, even matching Claire's initial outfit, and Mitchell's green and brown flat, even down to the green phone. Both stylish designs for the 70's, and both packed with detail.

Sound Design by David Gilbrook and Lighting Design by Michael Donaghue. As with last week, the sound and light team added so much to this thriller. There were many phone rings and door bells, doors being shut etc, and the lighting focused our attention and guided us to where we needed to be looking.

It's all to do with guiding our senses in theatre where sound and light is concerned, and like the acting, this production shows a masterclass of talent on how things should be done.

Costume Design by Geoff Gilder and again attention to detail is rife here. Flares, leather coats,the dresses, heels, - for both male and female actors, all spot on. This goes as well for the wigs and make up. Everything just transported the audience back to the 70's.

This play is not one that I'd seen before, and it really had everyone on the edge of their seats trying to work out who killed Campbell, and even to start with, how he actually died, as that too was in question as to the cause of his death as the play progressed.

As I mentioned though at the start of this review, this play has a final twist that was not expected at all and I felt my jaw dropping in the final scenes because this was one twist I had not seen coming.

This is one production that truly deserves the Classic Thriller tag and a must see for Thriller fans. I may even go as far to say that this could be my favourite one to date, but it has a lot of competition over the years of Tabs Productions' successes.

“Murder With Love” is the second of this year’s plays in the Colin McIntyre’s Classic Thriller Season and runs until Saturday 10 August.