Review of Single White Female at Milton Keynes Theatre

The 1990s movie Single White Female was a classic pulp fiction offering of the time, off the back of films such as Fatal Attraction and released in the same year as the legendary Basic Instinct, these were the ultimate times for erotic thrillers/bunny boiler films. So, the question is: is such a genre still relevant today, and, even more so, can a theatre play succeed in transferring the theme to a new medium altogether?

Allie is a recently divorced mother trying to juggle single parenting with starting her own tech company. To help with expenses, she looks for a lodger and finds Hedy, who seems like the perfect solution. However, as they get to know each other, the lines between their lives start to blur, and what seemed like an ideal setup begins to fall apart.

For those familiar with the original film, there will be immediate observations of changes that adaptor Rebecca Reid has made. While lifting the entire plot from the US to the UK is obvious, developing Allie into Bella's mother rather than Buddy the dog in the original film is a larger leap. Take this, plus bringing the whole story into the modern world of social media, technology, phones, and school bullying, and you could be forgiven for thinking this is very much not the original film. Even the eroticism takes a back seat, with only one hint of it late in the play, a rather awkward sequence that allows the plot to leap into its final denouement.

So, with much of the original left behind, with inspiration rather than adaptation more the thing of Reid, does this have the same impact on an audience? The simple answer is yes: Single White Female remains as good a play as the film was in its day. Nothing groundbreaking, but entertaining for a couple of hours of shlock amusement.

It helps that there is a very good, knowing-the-medium performance from Kym Marsh in the central role of the controlling and ever-so-unhinged Hedy, crashing into Allie's life, not just accidentally, but with great intent. The performance does not shy away from making her effectively up to something from the outset, much to the audience's pleasure, who clearly mostly know the drill for this story. However, it still allows Marsh to build, especially through the second act, into a perhaps at times chaotic finale, which does, though, become one of satisfaction for the audience.

As Allie, with Lisa Faulkner sadly indisposed for the performance, Anna Ruben covers the role. While initially slightly chasing to get into the part, with a few early dialogue slips, she quickly assumes the part with more confidence. However, the part is much less interestingly written than Hedy's, so Ruben has little to get her teeth into, even as her assurance increases. She is the foil of the story, alas, to be dominated by Hedy and, indeed, Reid's storytelling.

Support from the rest of the cast is great, with a spirited, very lively performance by Amy Snudden as Bella, who manages to get the most out of the story's humour, playing a slightly annoying, typical teenager who suffers as much as Allie does from the manipulative Hedy.

Allie’s colleague and friend, Graham, played by Andro, offers moments of humour as well, but is a character who very much spots what Hedy is up to but fails to stop the tumble of troubles ahead. Finally, Jonny McGarrity does his best with the one-dimensional Sam, ex-husband of Allie, but the role offers very little, certainly less than his backstory pretends to offer.

Production-wise, it is a solid, if unexciting one, with Morgan Large’s set looking the part of a simple, rundown apartment, as long as you don’t try to understand the slightly inaccurate footprint, especially with Hedy’s room. Jason Taylor creates a simple lighting setup that comes into its own during the scene change blackouts, which are short and sharp to maintain the tension and pace of the storytelling.

Director Gordon Greenberg is across all aspects of keeping this moving and uses the set's space very effectively. It is perhaps a shame that no score is provided, an almost-requirement for stories like this to help raise tension as the story builds to an impactful ending.

Single White Female remains an entertaining thriller, functional and absorbing, without anything approaching high-end quality. It does very much what the films of old did, so if that is your thing and you are looking for a wave of nostalgia for the 90s days of cinema, you won’t do wrong with a trip to see the show. 

Pure schlock theatre which creates a nice wave of 90s thriller nostalgia.
⭐⭐⭐

Performance reviewed: Tuesday 21st April, 2026 at the Milton Keynes Theatre, Milton Keynes.

Single White Female runs at Milton Keynes Theatre until Saturday, 25th April 2026 before continuing its tour.

For further details about Milton Keynes, see their website at http://www.atgtickets.com/venues/milton-keynes-theatre/

For further details of the tour, see the website at https://www.swfonstage.com/

Photographs: Chris Bishop
(Images depict Lisa Faulkner in the role of Allie)