1992 was a good year for strong female led thriller films “The Hand that Rocks The Cradle”, “Basic Instinct “ and “Single White Female “ now adapted to a stage play by Rebecca Reid.

The basic plot of the story is Allie, played by Lisa Faulkner, after a messy divorce has moved to a shoddy built apartment in an English City. With her daughter, stroppy teenager Bella, (Amy Snudden), her friend, business partner and neighbour Graham ( Andro) suggests she advertises for a flatmate to help pay the bills.

Enter Hedy played by Kim Marsh. Hedy is obsessed with Allie and Bella, slowly integrating in to their life’s and meddling with friendships and ex husband Sam. (Jonny McGarrity). As she morphs in to Allie, changing her hair and wearing her clothes her murderous intent becomes apparent.

The film version and stage adaptation do differ in much more modern ways. Social media and what we freely post for the world to see takes a hammering.

Much of what Hedy is able to find out about Allie and Bella has been sourced from their online accounts.

Bella is a new character, in the film they were both childless and a dog was brought to the apartment, the character of Bella is used extremely well in this production, giving Hedy an in with her, when Allie said no, Hedy was able to step in and become “best friend” helping her deal with school bullies and purchasing very expensive stiletto shoes.

There were some wonderful hints to the violence that will follow in the direction by Gordon Greenberg, in the first scene as Allie is unpacking and setting up the kitchen a knife block and knifes are unpacked and slid in to place. The iconic stiletto heels are mentioned twice before they are gruesomely used as a weapon.

The sound and lighting are done for ultimate shock factor, the loud door buzzer, lift and a few electrical faults made us all jump during the show. Often plunged into darkness, or lit by red and blue strip lights kept us on the edge, masking character changes on stage. 

Kym Marsh and Lisa Faulkner really work well together in making this a tense watch, they never let up.

When you know the film and therefore the story, the tension is even more unbearable, as we all know Hedy is a villain.

This adaptation though does try to give us more of a reason for her actions, and gives a back story to her mentality and reasons. It almost gives her a heart, but not enough to forgive her.

Recently there has been many film to stage adaptations of horror and thriller films, this is one you won’t want to miss.