A ROLE TO DIE FOR

Marylebone Theatre

★★★★

“A wonderful mix – but guilty of being shaken and stirred, which upsets the balance slightly”

Sean Connery is centre stage, flanked by Pierce Brosnan and Roger Moore. Downstage right, Daniel Craig gazes moodily out into the audience while, stage left, Timothy Dalton does the same but with a more sardonic twinkle in his eye. All of them are brandishing a semi-automatic Beretta. Alas, they are just portraits on the walls of the office of Deborah, the fictitious head of the James Bond franchise. But there lies the catch – they are the only real-life characters in an otherwise fabricated comedy-drama, and are constantly referred to. The juxtaposition doesn’t always work, but what it does do is lure the story dangerously close to the truth. Writer Jordan Waller claims that he has chosen not to base his play, “A Role to Die For”, on real life people in order to be ‘unencumbered by facts’. Whilst he might have succeeded (from the libel lawyers’ perspective at least), there is no disguising the protagonists.

Who will be the next James Bond? Back in real life, speculation is rife. In the play, Deborah (Tanya Franks) is just about to announce Daniel Craig’s successor to the baying public, aided and abetted by her cousin side-kick Malcolm (Philip Bretherton). Deborah’s son, Quinn (Harry Goodson-Bevan) is one step ahead and sufficiently entrenched in the new way of thinking to foresee the impending scandal/disaster/farce* (*delete as appropriate). It is a family affair, and Waller brilliantly explores the dynamics of this high-powered dynasty. Deborah (even the name rhymes and scans with her factual counterpart) shares the Bond legacy with Malcolm, inherited from her father – a legacy she seems determined to pass down to her gay, vegan son who brandishes an ‘eat-the-rich’ slogan on his t-shirt.

On the eve of the big announcement, the star lined up to be the new Bond pulls out (cue some double-entendres). It has emerged that he has been a naughty boy. A predator (‘isn’t that a dinosaur?’ asks Malcolm) of girls, many of them on the younger side (where have we heard that recently?). The question of who the emergency replacement will be kicks up the other, more pertinent, question of how Bond can adapt to modern day values. The play throws the issues around in a wonderfully structured way, drawing laughs from the audience on practically every other line. Yes, the debate might be tried and tested, but the stream of witty one-liners and acute character observation have us grinning from ear to ear throughout.

Franks is simply terrific as Barbara (sorry… Deborah – easy mistake). Full of spunk (don’t blame me – I’m just getting into the spirit of the play), she portrays a woman with a man’s ability to spout profanities, but a woman’s ability to use them to greater effect. Ruthless but vulnerable, Franks rises above her quips and soundbites to give Deborah a quite human quality, especially during the more introspective second act. Goodson-Bevan, as the ‘distinctly mediocre nepo-baby’ is far from mediocre in his depiction of a guy torn between social awareness and family loyalty. Bretherton’s Malcolm is hilariously old school. Less calculating, more pragmatic but equally ruthless despite being accused of being a ‘dithering old timer’. Enter Theo, one of two candidates for the role of Bond, who trashes every stereotype you can think of. Obioma Ugoala shines as the well-spoken, well heeled, Cambridge educated actor on whose shoulders the success of the movie franchise rests. Or does it?

Things don’t necessarily go to plan. Set mainly in the head office, with a brief visit to the casting room courtesy of Cory Shipp’s shifting backdrops, the action moves forward at a pace that borders on farce yet is more grounded in pure comedy. Director Derek Bond (no relation) rightly allows little time for the actors to milk the jokes, which enriches the text’s naturalism and flow. Politics, finance, sexuality, race, diversity, media scrutiny, back-stabbing, trolling, integrity, are all scrutinised but the sheer ambition of the content means that the surface is scratched without getting too deep. Nevertheless, it is scathing of the bygone era of film making, but strangely nostalgic too. It is equally mocking of the new climate, but simultaneously respectful. A feat of juggling that writer and performers seem to pull off without dropping the ball. Even when tripping over the occasional cliché.

“A Role to Die For” is sharp, cutting and satirical. Sometimes shocking, nearly always extremely funny. A wonderful mix – but guilty of being shaken and stirred, which upsets the balance slightly. We occasionally wince, but it does go down exceedingly well, and comes with a real kick. Cue the ‘dum di-di dum dum’ guitar riff.

A ROLE TO DIE FOR

Marylebone Theatre

Reviewed on 31st July 2025

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Steve Gregson

Previously reviewed at this venue:

ALICE IN WONDERLAND | ★★★ | July 2025

FAYGELE | ★★★★★ | May 2025

WHITE ROSE | ★★ | March 2025

WHAT WE TALK ABOUT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT ANNE FRANK | ★★★★ | October 2024

THE GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR | ★★★★ | May 2024

THE DREAM OF A RIDICULOUS MAN | ★★★★ | March 2024

A SHERLOCK CAROL | ★★★★ | November 2023

THE DRY HOUSE | ★★½ | April 2023

A ROLE TO DIE FOR

★★★★

“This is a strong interpretation”

‘Macbeth’ isn’t the obvious choice for a summer open air tour. ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ or ‘Twelfth Night’ are a safer bet. Or even ‘Romeo and Juliet’. Mind you, The Duke’s Theatre Company have done all those in previous years. So, this year they have taken on the foreboding ‘Scottish Play’ that explores the dark side of ambition and power. Visiting stately homes, castles and gardens – including a spell at Cornwall’s famous Minack – it takes brief shelter under the rafters of Wilton’s Music Hall, where it seems perfectly at home, played out against the flaking walls of the venue. It is hard to imagine it beneath picturesque backdrops and sunsets. Ruth Harvey’s atmospheric lighting, with its blood reds, silhouettes, shadows and smoke, belong in the darkness way beyond sundown.

Jessica Curtis’ set places the action on three blackened platforms, precariously held together by scaffolding poles, painted red with scorched tips. Swirls of dry ice create a wasteland, barren and metallic, with little hope of new life flowering between the cracks. We are in Scotland, but we could be in T S Eliot’s world of ‘The Hollow Men’, or any contemporary strip of land torn apart by tyranny. ‘The Scottish Play’, although over four hundred years old now, still resonates with its themes of unfiltered ambition coupled with self-serving disregard for others. A story of self-obsessed decisions in the pursuit of total power. But also, a prophecy – a warning almost.

Some of the message is lost, however, inside the hall’s difficult acoustics. And nearly every word from the three witches is drowned in its pool of effects and reverb, the essence of which needs filling in with our familiarity with the text. Finnbar Hayman’s Macbeth has no problem, though, with his imposing presence. We first see him and Banquo (Edmund Morris) as they claim the stage, dressed in black like riot police. His readiness to believe the witches’ prophecies hints at an unhinged personality beneath his steely exterior, and Hayman plays on this with an originality that sheds new light on his relationship with his wife. Marilyn Nnadebe truly makes Lady Macbeth the villain of the piece – cool and striking but barely hiding layers of menace. The pair’s chemistry is fraught with sexual tension as her increasingly murderous demands send Macbeth into a powerless, almost erotic, frenzy. It is clear who wears the trousers here.

It is a strong, often multi-rolling, cast that deftly reveals the hierarchy of the period. You wouldn’t want to mess with Alasdair James McLaughlin’s dangerous Macduff, yet at the same time you are convinced by his displays of grief. William Marr is equally convincing as Malcolm; initially weak but eventually claiming his rightful place with triumph and a surprising ferocity. Jenni Walker is in fine form in a series of minor roles until she has her moment as the ill-fated Lady Macduff. James Lavender, killed off early as King Duncan, returns as a hilarious and spell binding Porter – the only time the fourth wall is broken as he treats the audience to some much-needed comic relief.

Director Robert Shaw Cameron propels the action with slick scene transitions that often overlap, unravelling the story as briskly as the collapse of Macbeth’s sanity. Rob Millett’s percussive, regimental soundtrack casts ominous threats of violence that march off into the shadows. We get a sense of the expanse of the Scottish Highlands but also the claustrophobia, especially when the scaffolding poles morph into Birnam Wood, like prison bars closing in on Macbeth’s fate. The production can boast high energy, although it often relies on a shoutiness that could do with being reined in. This is a strong interpretation of “Macbeth”. A bold choice for the company that pays off at Wilton’s Music Hall. Let’s hope it can win over the picnicking, sun-drenched audiences scattered around England’s gardens (although, typically, the rain is falling thick and fast now as I am writing this).

A ROLE TO DIE FOR

Marylebone Theatre

★★★★

“A wonderful mix – but guilty of being shaken and stirred, which upsets the balance slightly”

A ROLE TO DIE FOR

Marylebone Theatre

Reviewed on 31st July 2025

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Steve Gregson

Previously reviewed at this venue:

A ROLE TO DIE FOR

A ROLE TO DIE FOR

A ROLE TO DIE FOR

MACBETH

Wilton’s Music Hall

★★★★

“This is a strong interpretation”

MACBETH

Wilton’s Music Hall then UK Tour continues

Reviewed on 29th July 2025

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Lidia Crisafulli

Previously reviewed at this venue:

MACBETH

MACBETH

MACBETH

JOIN US