The Winchester, Poole Hill Rd, Bournemouth Saturday the 14th of June 2014
When does the wife of a serial killer become equally guilty for the sins of her husband in the eyes of the tabloids and the of the tabloid hungry public? Does the simple fact of marrying a man who murders justify the onslaughts of hate and harassment meted out by the media and is it as clear cut to expect that any spouse would turn her husband, the father of her children, in at the first suspicion. ‘The Murder Wife’ explores all of these issues in a compelling hour of intensity in its writing, acting and direction. Using a pub as a venue meant that those who came walked into a bar area which in a traditional theatre would be the place to socialise before entering the theatre proper.
Director, Charmaine Kay Parkin uses her skills in dance and physical theatre to disconcert the audience before the play has even started by having both actors in this two hander already on the stage using mime as the audience buy drinks and find their seats. This sense of should we, as the audience, be watching this whilst we chat and wait for the lights to go down sets a tone of discomfort which runs through the play. John Foster’s writing, as with previous plays of his, brings the audience into the performance as both participants and voyeurs as the actors address us with questions designed to challenge how we would react if we found ourselves in the position of the characters.
A compelling performance by Rebecca Alexander asks us to consider the bewilderment of finding out that the man who she married has strangled a number of women who look like her. We are invited to consider how this would affect the lives of their children and the disbelief that this parent could be responsible for such chilling acts. We witness as she considers her own role in this and her questioning of herself as a wife and the knowledge that others will also make their own judgements on this in a very public manner. Steve James has the remarkable job of showing the audience that his character is not simply a monster but an ordinary and suburban grey man who is also searching for reasons as to why he is killing these women. In his monologues there are credible and uncomfortable moments of self-justification, of insights into his taunting of the Police, of his contempt for his own place in the world. Sometimes even humorous his sense of unfulfilled entitlement rings scarily true in light of recent levels of misogynistic violence against women. Personal details such as the fact cricket team mates would call him Rob but she, Gina, would always call him Robin did reveal the everyday of these people very well.
However, there are moments when the banality of their respective ‘normal’ lives are overplayed and I did sometimes feel that there were too many reminders of this throughout. The set was perfect for the play with a a dining table and two chairs occupying the stage as stark reminders of their roles as married, middle-class suburbanites. The sounds and noises which filtered in from outside the venue also added to the sense of reality and the very believable and understandable idea that, for a wife to turn her and her children’s whole lives over to the ugly media glare would never be anything other than a courageous decision to make. I enjoyed this play but was certainly made uncomfortable by it. I would recommend this production and would suggest that in a world where violence erupts from TV and computer screens on a 24 hour cycle it is the skill of the cast, writer and director that makes this play so exceptional in its ability to remind us that violence can be so normal.
Bob Hill
