Skip to main content

Review of Rebus: Long Shadows at Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton

Ian Rankin's John Rebus has been stalking the underworld of Edinburgh for over thirty years now in both his novels and various TV adaptations. Here though, with an adaptation by Rona Munro, the, now retired, detective, takes to the stage for the first time, and even to this reviewer, slightly lacking in knowledge (I have read the first two novels a long time ago), it proves an entertaining, if slightly unfulfilling evening at times.

The story of Rebus: Long Shadows unfolds following a chance encounter with a young girl on his tenement stairs, the wounds of two unsolved cases of murdered girls open up in Rebus' mind, leading to encounters with old colleague Siobhan Clarke, and recurring nemesis 'Big Ger' Cafferty.

At the centre of this whole production is a superb dominating performance by Charles Lawson, depicting the grizzled, weary drink swigging detective with huge skill. His whole demeanour embodies the nature of the character, from his voice to his gait and onto his movement. He lurches smoothly from rugged, violent and hugely witty in the delivery of the often very funny script.

John Stahl meanwhile gives an even better performance as Cafferty, viciousness dealt in an almost friendly nature, he towers over everyone else with ease, in both size and indeed power, as he observes Edinburgh from up high in his apartment. It a tremendously strong performance delivered with panache.

Cathy Tyson however for me gives a tremendously odd performance, the character itself seems poorly created here, and her delivery like some sort of train station announcer puts no light and shade into the character. I know that she is excellent, her CV shows that, but here, I really found nothing to like from her performance at all.

Neil McKinven though gives excellent support, depicting five characters throughout the play, making them all so believable that at times I thought there was an actor I had missed in the programme. Superb work.

Ti Green's set is slightly less successful than her monumental one seen in a recent production at the Royal, Touching the Void, and ends up having excellent flourishes when it becomes a bar, pub or Cafferty apartment, but elsewhere, and throughout the entire show, the vast sweeping stairs impose a little too much on proceedings much of the time.

The set also fails to adapt to the Royal stage as well, clearly designed for bigger venues, a few areas of the original blocking from director Robin Lefevre are hidden from side sections of the audience, especially in Rebus' flat when activity by his filing cabinets disappears from view of one side of the audience. Lefevre also has a habit of long sequence of limited movement, including the first meet between Rebus and Clarke, a very long scene, filled with a lot of exposition, and lacking in drive, and some overly long segments with actors with their back to the audience. Also for a while, the whole play fails to prove to its audience that it is a stage play, with this easily feeling like a TV episode in itself with the camera barely needing to move.

Thankfully it improves, and much of the grasping of a theatrical experience comes from the handling of the two dead girls by the director. Both are excellently performed by Dani Heron and Eleanor House, with their overshadowing of the troubled Rebus upon high, and excellently brought into the role of stage managers. Their seamless nature in this is highlighted in the one scene where the scene change is not the sole responsibility of them when we arrive a Cafferty's apartment. The scene change, while quick, feels clunky as a result of how well everything else is done. Elsewhere there is some lovely atmospheric lighting from the late Chahine Yavroyan and Simon Bond which very much evokes the long shadows of the title upon Ti Green's predominantly black set.

Rebus: Long Shadows is always entertaining and keeps interest, although the plot is very much a sideshow to the characters created. Munro's script from Rankin's original does enough to bring an audience unfamiliar with the world of Rebus into it without becoming too much of a frantic crash course, however, I do suspect that fans already of Rebus, in either form, will gain the most from this opportunity to see those familiar characters upon the stage. Entertaining, but never more than a slightly joining the dots production.

Entertaining, but generally just a joining of the dots production.
⭐⭐

Performance reviewed: Monday 5th November 2018 at the Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton.
Rebus: Long Shadows runs at the Royal & Derngate until Saturday 10th November 2018 before continuing its tour. Details at https://www.ianrankin.net/longshadows/
For further details about the Royal & Derngate see their website at 
http://www.royalandderngate.co.uk

Photos: Robert Day


Popular posts from this blog

Review of War Horse at Milton Keynes Theatre

Michael Morpurgo's novel War Horse was published in 1982. While it was highly regarded and thought to be his best work, perhaps it eventually came to most people's attention when this striking play stormed the stage, thanks to the National Theatre, back in 2007. Now, War Horse arrives at Milton Keynes Theatre as part of another vast UK tour. Adapted by Nick Stafford in association with the award-winning Handspring Puppet Company, War Horse tells the story of the First World War through the eyes of one horse, Joey, sold for a record price from a family battle but eventually shipped off to war-torn France much to the distress of his original owner, 16-year old Albert. The sprawling and epic story should take some staging, but the vast cast, beautiful structure, stunning folk music and, of course, what this play has become known for, magnificent puppetry, all bring the story to life. This production, directed by Tom Morris and revival director Katie Henry, is a magnificent thin...

Review of Immune by R&D Youth Theatre at Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton

The cover note for the script of Oladipo Agboluaje's Immune describes it as "a challenging science fiction play with a large cast", and the word challenging in this case is not a lie. This is a fast paced, multi-cast changing script which leaves little room for error for its young cast in the performance. If the script isn't enough to handle for the young performers, director Christopher Elmer-Gorry and designer Carl Davies have made the situation even more complex for the actors with the set and stage work. Having to manhandle great panels on wheels and a huge cube, which also splits in two occasionally, during scene changes requires skill, coordination and cooperation of a high level. As if all this is not enough, the actual story is epic enough for the relatively small stage of the Royal. Attempting to form an apocalyptic world (albeit only happening in Plymouth) offers challenges in itself, but Agboluaje's script does that in a sort of apocalypse in the teac...

Review of The Rocky Horror Show at Milton Keynes Theatre

Richard O’Brien’s anarchic, surreal, and often incomprehensible musical, The Rocky Horror Show , has captivated audiences for over fifty years now. With this new tour, it feels as fresh and unpredictable as if it had just emerged from O’Brien's vivid imagination yesterday. While another review might seem unnecessary given the countless dressed-up fans who fill every theatre it visits, let’s go ahead and write one anyway. The Rocky Horror Show follows the adventures of Brad and Janet, a newly engaged couple. On a dark and stormy November evening, they run into car trouble and seek refuge at a mysterious castle reminiscent of Frankenstein’s. There, they encounter the eccentric handyman Riff-Raff, the outrageous scientist Dr. Frank N. Furter, and a host of other bizarre characters. What unfolds is a science fiction B-movie narrative that is at times coherent and at other times bewildering — yet somehow, that doesn’t seem to matter. I first saw The Rocky Horror Show in 2019 and exper...