Review: Fatal Attraction, Theatre Royal Bath – ‘an exhilarating psychological thriller’

It’s exhilarating to sit in an audience where discomfort and tension is palpable – not simply because we’re watching a psychological thriller, but because the premise is so tempting that any one of us could fall prey to it.

Fatal Attraction has been updated for a 21st century audience by James Dearden, author of the original screenplay, and – as the programme notes promise – we are freshly challenged to consider the themes of infidelity, obsession and human weakness.

Happily married lawyer Dan Gallagher is meeting a friend in a bar in New York, while his smart, loving wife and their eight year old daughter are away for the weekend. The friend has to leave early, allowing Dan to let an innocent drink develop into a passionate encounter with a feisty woman who knows what she wants and how to get it.

Oliver Farnworth as Dan Gallagher and Kym Marsh as Alex Forrest – photo: Tristram Kenton

One person’s fling, however, is another person’s only way of connecting. So which of them is right, and which of them should pay the price for what has happened? Listening to audience reaction, and interval conversations, the moral – and logistical – debate is still very much alive.

Kym Marsh – in the role which made Glenn Close famous – is seductive, scary, and totally believable. By turns attractively confident and sympathetically desperate, she gives a performance which makes us root for her all the way.

She plays emotional distress extremely well, and is ably matched by Oliver Farnworth’s nuanced portrayal of a man we should feel had it coming, but who doesn’t deserve his fate, either.

Both are supported well by Susie Amy as Dan’s wife, and John Macaulay as his worldly wise friend. It shouldn’t be remarkable that they all have plausible US accents, but it is good to hear that they do.

Susie Amy as Beth Gallagher, Oliver Farnworth as Dan Gallagher and Kym Marsh as Alex Forrest – photo: Tristram Kenton

Set against a stunning collection of projected backdrops, with a pulsating underscore and snippets from Madam Butterfly, this production is elegantly directed by Loveday Ingram, who understands very well how the film has become a cultural reference point.

Soft waves of knowing laughter from an audience which thinks it knows what’s about to happen are quickly silenced by moments of genuine suspense. Stopping short of a boiler spoiler, I will just say that the Scene We All Know About is executed with impressive, and frightening, restraint.

A slight change in lighting, however, would prevent audience confusion about the play’s final moments. There is a coda which neatly addresses all the questions asked thus far – but this evening it mis-fired. It’s an easy fix which I hope is built into future performances.

Go and see this – it’s not a faithful rendition, it’s a new interpretation. It tells a story you think you know already, but makes you question it all over again. Go on, surprise yourself.

Oliver Farnworth as Dan Gallagher and Kym Marsh as Alex Forrest – photo: Tristram Kenton

Fatal Attraction is at Theatre Royal Bath, Sawclose, Bath, BA1 1ET until February 12, at 7.30pm, with 2.30pm matinees on Wednesday and Saturday at 2.30pm. Tickets are available at www.theatreroyal.org.uk.

Main image: Tristram Kenton

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