Dead Ringer is set in the highest echelons of political power – the PM’s office in 10 Downing Street., during the 1980s.
On the eve of the general election, the charismatic Prime Minister dies of an apparent heart attack. His cabinet colleagues, fearful of losing, hatch an ingenious plot to hide his death until after they have won the election. There’s a lot of jostling for position and political infighting. There’s no love lost as the politicians have scores to settle. But the whole thing, of course, gets out of hand and the head of MI5 is called in to clear things up.
A rather bizarre comedy turns into a tense thriller.
The play was first presented in London by Bill Kenwright together with the author Charles Ross in 1983 at the Duke of York’s Theatre, where it had a most successful run and great reviews.
A most entertaining evening to enjoy after the rigours of our own 2015 General Election. What might have been perhaps??
Dead Ringer is presented by special arrangement with Samuel French, Ltd
CAST
Randolph Bolton (Prime Minister)
Jason Wrightam
Dick Marr (Home Secretary)
John Parker
Ray Turnbull (Foreign Secretary)
Andrew Haynes
Ms Frances Cowdrey (Minister for the Arts)
Bex Mason
Gerry Jackson (The Dead Ringer)
Thomas J Waring
Mrs Eva Bolton (Prime Minister's Wife)
Jemma Bennett
Colonel Hardacre (MI5)
Craig Russell
Nigel Harwood (PM's Private Secretary)
Vejay Pal
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DEAD RINGER by Charles Ross
Nottingham Lace Market Theatre
Set in the 1980s and on the eve of a General Election in the PM's study at No.10, the fictional PM, Randolph Bolton has a heart attack in front of his cabinet colleagues. What are they to do? They are ahead in the polls and this is the last thing the cabinet members expected, or needed, not just for their party but for themselves as well. All they need is some way to make the country think that nothing has happened to the Prime Minister, just until he has been confirmed the election winner.
Fortunately Ms Frances Cowdrey, the Minister for the Arts, has a brain wave and she remembers an actor she once saw who was a dead ringer for Bolton and offers him the role of his acting career. He decides that the money for this gig is just too good to turn down and takes the role, but all is not as it seems behind the doors of No. 10 when Colonel Hardacre of MI5 reveals that Bolton's heart attack may not be quite as it first appeared!
This is a brilliant comedy/thriller which will keep you guessing right to the very end. A classy whodunnit with several twists along the way and possibly one of the best murder mysteries I've seen.
Prime Minister Bolton, and of course the dead ringer is played by Lace Market Theatre regular Jason Wrightam, and possibly one of the best performances I've seen from Jason. Can't say too much about the character of Gerry Jackson the PM lookalike as there may be more to his role than meets the eye, but to see what that may, or may not be, you'll have to see the play.
Home Secretary Dick Marr is at first reluctant to go along with the dead ringer idea but is soon in over his wallet. Brilliantly acted by John Parker, and he still reminds me of Leonard Rossiter, especially with a nod to one of Mr Rossiter's characters snuck into the play as well for the sharp eyed and eared.
Bex Mason, always real joy to watch, as Ms Cowdrey. This character got me changing my mind so many times, as all good thrillers should do. A real tribute to the character, the script and of course the actor for making the audience believe in the character, her motives and what she had to gain... or lose from Bolton's death.
Andrew Haynes, played the thorn in every one's side in the play, Ray Turnbull, the Foreign Secretary. He's the one who looked to have had the most to gain from the PM's passing, well at least from his political standing anyway.
And then there's Bolton's wife, Eva. They weren't getting on too well in their private life, but what would she gain from his untimely death, apart from freedom from what we assume to be a loveless marriage?
The PM had a Private Secretary and Nigel Harwood was played by Vejay Pal. The scenes between Bolton and Harwood were similar to the scenes on "Little Britain" between David Walliams and Anthony Head, but not as overtly camp. From the start you got the idea that there was something more than a working relationship going off there, and this also inadvertently adds to the comedy element of the play.
Finally to Colonel Hardacre of MI5, the man who opened the proverbial can of worms. Hardacre was played with great authority by Craig Russell.
So, was this just a tragic accident after all, and if not how did he really die, and who did it. There are six possible suspects but if he was murdered, then why, and who really had the most to gain?
Read the original article here.
Review: Dead Ringer, Lace Market Theatre
On the eve of the general election the Prime Minister unexpectedly expires. Heartily disliked inside his party, he's popular in the country at large; so some of his senior cabinet colleagues rope in a lookalike, a struggling jobbing actor, to impersonate him till the election's out of the way. But things get complicated, then more complicated.
The play is set in the eighties. But characters and even some details of plot are suggested by real-life politics and politicians from the sixties onwards; a fact that contributes to a lot of the laughs.
It's a decent comedy-thriller, albeit with a surfeit of twists and turns after the break, to the point where you might stop caring whodunit. But it's satirical and funny with nicely cynical characterisation of the politicians. And there's the gay relationship, marital infidelity, security bungling and graft.
The production fields some strong actors, Jason Wrightam in particular. In a sense he plays three distinct parts. He's first of all the PM, Randolph Bolton, then of course he's Gerry Jackson, actor, finally, he's Randolph Bolton as portrayed by Gerry Jackson. Wrightam is first-rate throughout.
The excellent John Parker and Bex Mason are Dick Marr, the Home Secretary, and Frances Cowdrey, Minister for the Arts, respectively. Both are portrayed as being childishly and touchingly ambitious for position and status. Parker has more than a touch of the surly bruiser about him; Mason, as usual, looks just right in those matching jackets and skirts female politicians invariably wear.
Andrew Haynes is Turnbull, the token working-class Deputy PM with wandering language skills; and Jemma Bennett is the PM's wife.
Directed by Marcus Wakely, this is definitely worth a look, especially if you're trying to lift a post-election depression; or wanting to have a negative view of all things Westminster confirmed.
Read the original article here.
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