The Manchester Opera House was jam packed with a star studied audience last night- I spotted actors from Corrie and Emmerdale and even a Strictly star! It was the press night performance of James Dearden’s Fatal Attraction which is based of the 80’s hit movie.
I have never seen the film, but I’ve certainly heard about it, described as an erotic, psychological thriller- the show last night was certainly that!
Fatal Attraction is a tale of seduction and suspense that asks the question; what happens when desire becomes deadly?
The show starts in an apartment in New York City where we meet Dan Gallagher played by Oliver Farnworth (Coronation Street and Hollyoaks) and his wife Beth (Susie Amy from Footballers Wives and Coronation Street) who seem happy enough. Beth and their daughter head to the countryside for the weekend and leave Dan to get on with his work.
One drink with his mate leads to Dan meeting Alex Forrest played by Kym Marsh (from Hear’Say and Coronation Street). They instantly connect, even realising they actually will be working closely together and decide to enjoy a drink and eventually dinner together.
What started as a friendly drink ended up in them spending the weekend together. From the get go they both new it was just a fling- Dan has a life back at home with his wife and child and Alex completely understood this….. right?
As Dan try’s to keep some distance between them, Alex becomes more and more unstable. Kim Marsh plays the character Alex really well. There were some tough scenes for Kim including some scenes of self-harm but her portrayal of the obsessed psychotic women was fantastic!
Oliver Farnworth gave a great performance as Dan. The more Alex became obsessed, the more Dan realised he was loosing control- firstly worrying about his family finding out about the affair but later to the likeness that someone will get hurt!
There was a simple yet effective stage set. The audience was transported from New York to the countryside by a computerised backdrop and sound effects- one moment high rise buildings and traffic, the next trees and birds singing.
This erotic psychological thriller is well worth a watch and is in Manchester until Saturday 26th February 2022. See here for tickets and more information.
Out and about mummy 