A thriller? Not this production of Double Double. When Eric Elice and Roger Rees wrote this play they expected the actors who played the characters to be up to the job, but in the production performed at the Hull New theatre they were sadly not. Anita Harris went through the motions, bearly rising above an animated figure, for her part as Phillipa James and Simon Ward looked like a mummified corpse when he walked onto the stage and proceeded to play his part as Duncan McFee, a teacher who had hit hard times, although he did grow out of this as time went on. Both actors rattled around the large stage as their voices vibrated quietly from the stage. Did they wish that they were somewhere else or was it all too much for them?

The play itself should have had pace and suspense, but this never happened as the two actors tried to show that their characters were crafty and not to be trusted. Not easy for two actors to fill a stage and command attention, and it was not done here.

It might make an evening out to the theatre, but you will go home wondering where the thriller element went during the evening. The best thing about the evening was the well constructed and furnished set. A pity. © BA

“ Double Double” is in Hull from the 29th of October until the 3rd of November, 2001.