Sleuth
Cambridge Arts Theatre
18th March 2024
While Agatha Christie may be most people’s first thought when it comes to thriller writers, it’s always worth remembering there are other options around. One such alternative is Anthony Shaffer, famous for screenwriting Hitchcock’s ‘Frenzy’ along with ‘The Wicker Man’, but whose most notable work was the Tony-winning play ‘Sleuth’ back in 1970. The acclaimed thriller was a big hit both in the West End and on Broadway, and was adapted to film twice. An intriguing mix of mind games, riddles and double-bluffs, the play has been brought back to life again this year, and a UK tour has been running since January, playing this week at Cambridge Arts Theatre.
Mystery writer Andrew Wyke (played by Todd Boyce) has invited Milo Tindle (Neil McDermott) over to his home, to challenge Tindle over having an affair with Wyke’s wife Marguerite. Surprise comes to Tindle when Wyke reveals a deep hatred for his wife, and tells Tindle he’s welcome to her, but she has been become accustomed to a life of luxury with Wyke and he doubts Tindle’s financial position will be able to sustain her material needs. Wyke suggests a plan to stage a burglary, whereby Tindle will steal and sell some expensive jewels from Wyke’s collection, and Wyke will claim on the insurance. As the two men get deeper into the intricacies of Wyke’s plan, it becomes Wyke has ulterior plans. But has Wyke met his game-playing match in Tindle?
Tautly directed by Rachel Kavanaugh, ‘Sleuth’s reputation as a great thriller is deserved, being genuinely gripping from start to finish. Although played in one setting for the whole show, the show keeps the audience’s attention thanks to a tight script, great characterisation and strong performances from its leads. As the plots twists its way around various puzzles and bluffs while the two men try to out-do each other, the audience feel as much a part of the story as the characters, as they try to work out what’s real and what the men’s next moves are (and the act one cliff hanger will certainly ensure the audience sticks around for act two). It’s a deliciously dark mystery, with a current of black humour running throughout that balances well with the dramatics. The show’s relatively short duration (two 45-minute acts separated by an interval) ensures that it doesn’t outstay its welcome, and zips along at a quick pace that suits these characters needs to solve their opponents mysteries before the next twist. The space is used well, with some great set design by Julie Godfrey with a lot of intricate detail, and good use of lighting from Tom Oliver.
‘Sleuth’ is driven by two excellent performances from its leading men. Todd Boyce (Corrie’s Stephen Reid) is note-perfect as the eccentric Wyke, a man so consumed by the mysteries he writes that he brings them into his own life in meticulous detail. Boyce clearly loves playing the part, delivering his significant chunks of whimsical dialogue with a clipped appropriateness that’s a joy to watch. Equally brilliant playing both the light and darker sides of the character, Boyce is worth the ticket price alone. Neil McDermott also does well, particularly in the show’s second half where he’s given more interesting material to play, after falling into the background slightly earlier on against Boyce (although largely that’s no fault of McDermott, as Tindle is written initially as a less interesting character).
If you’ve done ‘The Mousetrap’ and ‘And Then There Were None’ and are looking for a different type of ‘”whodunnit”, this could be right up your street, although arguably ‘Sleuth’ is more of a ‘whydunnit’, giving it a unique standpoint against other thrillers. With Boyce and McDermott on fine form, ‘Sleuth’ is lot of fun to play along with, and bound to bring out your inner Sherlock.
‘Sleuth’ runs at Cambridge Arts Theatre until Saturday 23rd March 2024 before continuing it’s UK tour until May 2024.
Performance run time 2 hours including interval.
