Review: Single White Female, Manchester Opera House

When the film in question is filled with tension, suspense and no little creepiness, a reworking for the theatre becomes all that much harder.

Expectations were high about Single White Female making a successful transfer with a revised and updated script some 20 years on from the movie starring Bridget Fonda and Jennifer Jason Leigh.

Kym Marsh and Lisa Faulkner in Single White Female Photo: Chris Bishop

Certainly a packed Opera House crowd was in the mood to be thrilled, especially given the fact that one of their own, Kym Marsh, was taking on the role of ‘lodger from hell’ Hedy.

But – and it’s a big but – for all the hype, for all the expectation, for me it all just fell flat. We weren’t taken to the edges of our seats and the two moments which should have been the most shocking were greeted by laughter from much of the audience.

Now you could argue that was a way of relieving the tension but it was more it reflected the slightly farcical nature of what should have been highpoints of drama.

Anyone familiar with the film will notice major differences. For a start Allie, the high-flier who is down on her luck and in need of a flatmate to help pay the rent has gained a teenage daughter, the suitably lippy Bella which is an interesting twist.

As lodger Hedy gradually eases her way into Allie’s life it’s clear that rather than be Allie, it’s Bella she covets which changes the dynamic.

Read also: ‘It’s fun going over to the dark side’ says Kym Marsh

The updated script also brings modern concerns about the power and dangers of social media to the forefront which does make the production appear more relevant.

Lisa Faulkner as Allie, returning to the stage after more than 20 years, shows no signs of rustiness. But her character, like the majority in the play, doesn’t feel sympathetic. Her waste of space ex-husband left her after getting into a relationship with a teenage girl while in rehab.

With girlfriend now pregnant he’s tightening the purse strings forcing her to live in a flat with dodgy electrics, large cracks in the walls and and front door bell which was the scariest thing in the whole play, going off at an alarmingly loud volume. It may have looked like a photo from an Ikea catalogue but it was barely credible that anyone would have been allowed to live in it.

In spite of her in-laws owning four homes, Allie is forced to send Bella to her private school on the bus – just one example of how things don’t really knit together.

Aided by her work colleague Graham, Allie advertises for a lodger and after what must be the quickest response to a house share in history Hedy gets in touch and the downward spiral begins.

Kym Marsh has a tricky role. On the surface she has to appear friendly and understanding but under the surface there’s an air of menace; she’s manipulative, wheedling her way in to another woman’s family dynamic for her own selfish ends.

There were some flashes of real creepiness but at other times as she morphed into a bit of a caricature, stretching credulity a little too far. A ‘seduction’ scene of the hapless ex-husband Sam was more farce than fierce.

Creating psychological tension from a stage is never easy. You can’t go in for dramatic close-ups and and subtlety is unlikely to survive the journey across a large audience.

Amy Snudden and Lisa Faulkner in Single White Female (Picture: Chris Bishop)

Of the remaining cast, Andro as the camp business partner Graham offered some comic relief – some of which was meant and some of which was unintended.

Jonny McGarrity’s ex-husband Sam came over as a bit of an upper class twit, albeit one with a former coke habit. Only Amy Snudden as Bella was a truly believable character, struggling with peer pressure at school and teen angst which you could see struck a chord with many of the audience.

Single White Female has some good points to make. There is no problem in updating it to take in current concerns and societal issues. But from the clunking scene changes to some of the more farcical scenes it was all lost in translation.

Perhaps expectations were too high; perhaps it was just me who couldn’t relate to it but for a psychological thriller there was no jeopardy, no real sense of menace.

Single White Female is at the Opera House, Manchester until Saturday. Details from www.atgtickets.com