The Perfect Murder, comes to the Theatre Royal Brighton
Murder he wrote
The world premiere production of Peter James’ best selling novel, The Perfect Murder, comes to the Theatre Royal Brighton
The international best selling crime thriller novelist and Sussex resident Peter James has sold over 14 million books of his Roy Grace series. James’ novella The Perfect Murder spent 15 weeks at number one and remained in the iBook Top 10 for 50 weeks. The popular author has won numerous awards both in the UK and in the USA and in 2012 he won the coveted US Barry Award for Best British Crime Thriller. Peter James’ work has now been adapted for the stage for the very first time.
Les Dennis, one of Britain’s most loved actors and entertainers, leads an all star cast. Les’ extensive credits in theatre include Chicago, Legally Blonde, Hairspray, Art, Skylight and Jigsy. His TV roles include Ricky Gervais’ Extras and Life’s Too Short and the recent Midsomer Murders Christmas special. Claire Goose, who starred in hit BBC series’ Waking the Dead and Casualty as well as ITV’s The Bill and most recently Sky TV’s comedy-drama Mount Pleasant, appears alongside Les.
In this gripping thriller, Victor Smiley’s long marriage to Joan is in crisis. Victor has decided there is only one way to get Joan out of his life forever, but he’s about to get a nasty surprise. As young Detective Roy Grace starts to investigate his first homicide case, dark forces intervene and Grace begins to fear that nothing is quite as it seems.
“Someone married falls in love with someone else and it’s easier to kill their partner than to deal with a divorce”
Asked about the inspiration for The Perfect Murder, Peter James says: “I have always been interested in the notion of the perfect murder. We are all capable of killing, but most of us are not capable of living with our conscience afterwards. There’s also a classic scenario whereby someone married falls in love with someone else and it’s easier to kill their partner than to deal with a divorce. After a while, they can’t live with it and they have to tell someone. The dangerous people are those who can live with their conscience.”
For many authors, seeing their work transferred from the page to the stage can be challenging. Peter James says: “The theatre has always been a dream of mine. I grew up in Brighton where my parents had regular weekly seats at the Theatre Royal. I used to sit there and dream that one day I would write a play, put it on and see it performed. It’ll be an incredibly proud moment for me. Of everything that I’ve done, this is the most exciting.”
Commenting on Shaun McKenna’s adaptation of the novel for stage, Peter continues: “Shaun has done a beautiful adaptation. When I got his script I was mesmerised. I thought… wow. He’s actually made it better!
“It’s completely there. Shaun’s genius has been to turn it from a novella into a really visually exciting stage play that’s got some great laughs in it, but also some really scary moments.”
Advanced sales for The Perfect Murder are so strong that an extra matinee has been added on Wednesday 29 January to meet demand. Don’t miss this gripping thriller during its week-long run in Brighton.
The Perfect Murder, Theatre Royal Brighton, Monday 27 January–Saturday 1 February 2014, 7.45pm, plus 2.30pm matinee Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, £11.90–£37.90
To book tickets:
0844 871 7650*
www.atgtickets.com/brighton*
*Subject to a booking fee
