Review: Catch Me If You Can, Richmond Theatre
Review: Catch Me If You Can, Richmond Theatre
It is a play that will actually have you hooked on the plot – and this is a trait not many current plays can boast about.
Although comedy suspense thriller might sound like an oxymoron, that’s what Catch Me If You Can is. Dialogues are flowing over a thunderstorm of laughter as the story gets progressively darker and more confusing.
The plot is best left unspoiled – suffice to say, there’s a mystery with plot twists galore. In the small town in the Catskills, a newly-wed Daniel Corban discovers that his bride has disappeared. Dismayed and distressed, things are getting progressively more confusing as the local priest brings his wife back – except Daniel could swear, the mysterious woman is not his wife… Enter Catskill local detective Inspector Levine who tries to make sense of their ramblings and uncover the truth.
Written by Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilbert (of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying fame), Catch Me If You Can sparks with a nostalgic charm of a mid-century detective story, whilst also remaining quite noir. The casual sexism (so 1960s) – mainly espoused by Inspector Levine – is somewhat toned down by Grey O’Brien’s intentionally daft delivery.
Linda Purl gives a particularly strong performance as the is-she-is-she-not wife, with some quite bold (not to say, seemingly off) acting choices that all turn out perfectly interwoven once the final plot twist is revealed. Her interactions with Corban (amazingly understated Patrick Duffy who begins in an innocently low key, for his act to only get more and more frantic as the plot thickens) are full of dramatic tension and simultaneously highly entertaining.
Julie Godfrey’s set – the living room of a wood cabin with a massive moose head on the wall that remains unchanged for the 2 hours runtime – is both realistic and oozing with a deceptive familiarity that becomes almost unsettling by the end of the second act.
It’s not exactly without its flaws, but these are minor. It is a play that will actually have you hooked on the plot – and this is a trait not many current plays can boast about.
Richmond Theatre, until 16 April
Yvonne Arnaud Theatre Guildford, 13 – 18 June
Image © Jack Merriman
