A Game Called Malice: A Rebus Play

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Rebus: A Game Called Malicewill be directed bythe award-winning Robin Lefevre, with design byTerry Parsons, lighting byMatthew Eagland, and composition and sound by Garth McConaghie.= Ian Rankin has been elected a Hawthornden Fellow. He is also a past winner of the Chandler-Fulbright Award, and he received two Dagger Awards for the year's best short story and the Gold Dagger for Fiction. Ian Rankin is also the recipient of honorary degrees from the universities of Abertay, St Andrews, and Edinburgh. Simon Reade is a renowned adaptor. His extensive stage adaptations include Pride & Prejudice (Regent’s Park/Guthrie Minneapolis), Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (TMA Award winner), Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children and Ted Hughes’s Tales From Ovid – both for the Royal Shakespeare Company where he was Literary Manager. Reade has also been Literary Manager for London’s Gate Theatre, Artistic Director of Bristol Old Vic, and has worked as a development producer for Tiger Aspect Productions and BBC Drama. \ Queen’s Theatre Hornchurchwill open its Spring 2023 season with the world premiere of Ian Rankin and Simon Reade’s Rebus: A Game Called Malice, running from 2 – 25 February.

It’s funny how writers can so competently and confidently write about subjects in which they have no expertise, managing to make it seem like they’re highly qualified – but then fall apart when they decide that one of their characters has to be an influencer or have some other vague interest in social media. The things these characters say just never quite sound natural, yet the remarks from the older generation that they’re trying to explain the whole concept to sound very familiar indeed… Candida (you already guessed it was her, didn’t you?) does at least develop and become slightly less predictable after her clunky introduction, but it’s clear that playwrights have now moved on from the obligatory selfie (that’s so 2010s) to the obligatory influencer to confirm modernity. Ian Rankin's Rebus character has now spanned 24 books and TV adaptations with Ken Stott and John Hannah playing the role but this new story has been written exclusively for the stage. "Rebus is such a popular character. It's great that the novelist has done it himself. I met Ian once, centuries ago at The Everyman in Liverpool, he came to see King Lear when I was doing the film with Pete Postlethwaite. This is a new play, Robin Lefevre is directing and it's a great cast with John Michie playing Rebus." On the fieldJuly seems to have been designated as white ball month, with enjoyable ODI & T20 series between England and both Sri Lanka & Pakistan. Complete domination against Sri Lanka was spoiled by Bristolian rain (*shakes fist*), but it was the ODI series against Pakistan that was the most satisfying; England had to pretty […] The Hundred: Initial Reaction Rebus: A Game Called Malice will be directed by the award-winning Robin Lefevre (who has worked extensively in the UK, Ireland and the United States); designed by Terry Parsons (who has designed 37 productions in London’s West End including Grease, Dominion Theatre and Singin’ In The Rain, The London Palladium ); with lighting design by Matthew Eagland ( The Life I Lead, Park Theatre and Wyndham’s Theatre); and joining them is composer and sound designer Garth McConaghie ( Derry Girls, Channel 4).

As act two begins, the focus has moved from the fictional murder 'whodunnit' to the real-life murder that has taken place in the house with all the guests becoming suspects. As is the case with all good mysteries, there are a few red herrings to try and throw us off the scent before the story unfolds. Tags: A Game Called Malice, Forbes Masson, Ian Rankin, John Hannah, John Michie, Ken Stott, London, Queens Theatre Hornchurch, Rebecca Charles, Rebus, Rebus: A Game Called Malice, review, Simon Reade, Terry Parsons, theatre Categories: all posts, review, theatre With the rise of True Crime documentaries, TV shows like Line of Duty, and hit films like Knives Out and the recent sequel Glass Onionit feels somewhat like a renaissance time for the genre "It seems to be doesn't it. I watched the first Knives Out with my kids and we all watched Glass Onion over Christmas. It's brilliant. Everything is so shit at the moment and people want escapism and that's why there are so many musicals around. A play that is a whodunnit makes you try and work something out and you're active. It takes you away from thinking about everyday life." Catch Jon (with no’H’) every Thursday from 9am for three hours of The Best of Stage & Screen right here on Box Office Radio

On that subject, I normally don’t approve of an interval being forced into a show whose performance lasts only around 90 minutes, as it generally interrupts the flow and takes you out of the moment; it just about works in this case, though, as the first act ends on a natural cliffhanger and it gives the audience a chance to regroup & talk theories. Perhaps having Rebus briefly break the fourth wall at the beginning of the second act (as he does at the very start and end of the play) might have made the restart a little more theatrical, and further justified the intermission. A contributor to BBC2's Newsnight Review, he also presented his own TV series, Ian Rankin's Evil Thoughts, on Channel 4 in 2002. He recently received the OBE for services to literature, and opted to receive the prize in his home city of Edinburgh, where he lives with his partner and two sons.

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The play centres on the dinner party and I posed Forbes the age-old question of who would be his dream guests to join him for one. "I'm so boring, I'm such a theatre-type person, so I'd probably have lots of theatre people. Actors of the past and of the present mixing together. Dull, a busman's holiday" he jokes. As we take our seats in the auditorium, it is clear Terry Parsons has done an excellent job with the set design. We are presented on stage with the scene from a very elegant dining room with lots of pictures hanging from every wall. We are given the feeling that this is a very large old house complete with very high ceilings and the owner clearly is very rich. Michie will be joined byRebecca Charles( The Dresser, Theatre Royal Bath and The Father, Duke of York Theatre, Wyndham’s Theatre);Billy Hartman(best known for playing the part of Terry Woods on ITV’s Emmerdale);Emily Joyce(best known for playing Janet Dawkins in BBC One’s My Hero);Forbes Masson(best known for his classical theatre roles and comedy partnership with Alan Cumming – The High Life, BBC Two);andEmma Noakes(best known for BBC One’s Call The Midwife and leading roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company).

Rebus: A Game Called Malice will be directed by the award-winning Robin Lefevre (who has worked extensively in the UK, Ireland and the United States); designed by Terry Parsons (who has designed 37 productions in London’s West End including Grease, Dominion Theatre and Singin’ In The Rain, The London Pallladium); with lighting design by Matthew Eagland ( The Life I Lead, Park Theatre and Wyndham’s Theatre); and joining them is composer and sound designer Garth McConaghie ( Derry Girls, Channel 4).

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In Rebus: A Game Called Malice, the start and build up is slow. There is a bunch of introductions and small talk between the various characters, as you sort of figure out who is there and why. A couple live at the place, hosting the dinner party. Another couple have attended, as the husband gambles with the husband hosting. A lawyer was invited, and she invited the detective as her friend. John Rebus agreed for personal reasons, as he felt there was more to a long-ended case than what was told. Forbes takes on the role of Paul Godwin in the play and tells me "he's a property developer. He's clawed his way up, he's upper middle class now but I don't think he was to begin with. He's very money orientated. He's a bit of a wheeler-dealer". It's not exactly Glass Onion, it's crystal thistle" is how actor Forbes Masson opens as he describes Ian Rankin and Simon Reade's new stage play Rebus: A Game Called Malice which he's currently rehearsing ahead of a run at Queen's Theatre Hornchurchthis February. I will stop there as I don’t want to give any further details or clues and spoil the ending. I will however say that in this mystery the Butler definitely didn’t do it because there isn’t one! Michie will be joined by Rebecca Charles ( The Dresser, Theatre Royal Bath and The Father, Duke of York Theatre, Wyndham’s Theatre); Billy Hartman (best known for playing the part of Terry Woods on ITV’s Emmerdale); Emily Joyce (best known for playing Janet Dawkins in BBC One’s My Hero); Forbes Masson (best known for his classical theatre roles and comedy partnership with Alan Cumming – The High Life, BBC Two); and Emma Noakes (best known for BBC One’s Call The Midwife and leading roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company).

Michie will be joined by Rebecca Charles ( The Dresser, Theatre Royal Bath and The Father, Duke of York Theatre, Wyndham’s Theatre); Billy Hartman (best known for playing the part of Terry Woods on ITV’s Emmerdale); Emily Joyce (best known for playing Janet Dawkins in BBC One’s My Hero); Forbes Masson (best known for his classical theatre roles and comedy partnership with Alan Cumming – The High Life, BBC Two); and Emma Noakes (best known for BBC One’s Call The Midwife and leading roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company). Simon Reade is a renowned adaptor. His extensive stage adaptations include Pride & Prejudice (Regent’s Park/Guthrie Minneapolis), Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (TMA Award winner), Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children and Ted Hughes’s Tales From Ovid – both for the Royal Shakespeare Company where he was Literary Manager. Reade has also been Literary Manager for London’s Gate Theatre, Artistic Director of Bristol Old Vic, and has worked as a development producer for Tiger Aspect Productions and BBC Drama. With a new adaptation of a beloved character, our chat led towards if there was any kind of pressure in creating this new version. "There is a lot of freedom when you create a role because you are the first person to do it and you're not looking over your shoulder thinking of what someone else did with it. Invariably I don't ever do that. I always try and find it myself. The responsibility is the story has to be quite clear and that the audience is really following it. It's quite a traditional set, it's a drawing room and I've not done that sort of thing before. In that sort of way, it's old fashioned but the play isn't, it's quite clever in that respect, you think it's one thing and then it goes somewhere else." L-R Rebecca Charles, Forbes Masson, Billy Hartman, John Michie. Credit: Mark Sepple. Rebus: A Game Called Malice It’s funny how writers can so competently & confidently write about subjects in which they have no expertise, managing to make it seem like they’re highly qualified – but then fall apart when they decide that one of their characters has to be an influencer or have some other vague interest in social media. The things these characters say just never quite sound natural, yet the remarks from the older generation that they’re trying to explain the whole concept to sound very familiar indeed… Candida (you already guessed it was her, didn’t you?) does at least develop and become slightly less predictable after her clunky introduction, but it’s clear that playwrights have now moved on from the obligatory selfie (that’s so 2010s) to the obligatory influencer to confirm modernity.During Act 2, John Rebus digs a little deeper into the history of each of the guests, slowly discovering a motive for each to have committed this crime. The play finishes, as it began, with John Rebus once again breaking the fourth wall and talking to the audience before leaving the stage.