A Game Called Malice: A Rebus Play

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I will stop there as I don’t want to give any further details or clues and spoil the ending. I will however say that in this mystery the Butler definitely didn’t do it because there isn’t one! The Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch has opened its Spring 2023 season with the world premiere of Ian Rankin and Simon Reade’s Rebus: A Game Called Malice. John Michie plays retired detective John Rebus, who just happens to be a guest at a dinner party in a very posh house where a rather unfortunate incident occurs upstairs. The others present are played by Rebecca Charles, Billy Hartman, Emily Joyce, Forbes Masson and Emma Noakes. The meal is over, but the wine is still flowing. The hostess has devised a murder mystery game set in a comparable stately home. The guests have their information sheets and in snippets of conversation, amongst other postprandial small-talk, they consider what have been established as the key elements of any investigation: means; motive and opportunity. Rather irritatingly they consistently refer to it as playing charades, even though they have already said it bears no resemblance to that game. A contributor to BBC2's Newsnight Review, he also presented his own TV series, Ian Rankin's Evil Thoughts, on Channel 4 in 2002. He recently received the OBE for services to literature, and opted to receive the prize in his home city of Edinburgh, where he lives with his partner and two sons.

Last Updated on 9th January 2023 Cast and creatives have been announced for the world premiere of Ian Rankin and Simon Reade’s Rebus: A Game Called Malice at the Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch. In Rebus: A Game Called Malice, the start and build up is slow. There is a bunch of introductions and small talk between the various characters, as you sort of figure out who is there and why. A couple live at the place, hosting the dinner party. Another couple have attended, as the husband gambles with the husband hosting. A lawyer was invited, and she invited the detective as her friend. John Rebus agreed for personal reasons, as he felt there was more to a long-ended case than what was told. Why does Forbes think anyone should book to see Rebus: A Game Called Malice, he says "it'll be a good night out if you like mysteries and solving a mystery then you'll enjoy it, if you like good theatre you'll enjoy it. It's a really amazing bunch of actors and we're all getting on really well and there's some great work in the room. It's a great theatre to come and visit if you've not been to the Queen's Theatre before then come and visit it because it's a lovely theatre." DI John Rebus has retired, but his mind is never far from the job – even when he’s been invited as a plus one to a swanky dinner party. Rebus: A Game Called Malice takes the detective off the streets of Edinburgh and into the realms of Agatha Christie’s famous sleuths; this new play (currently in a short run at Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch) was written by Ian Rankin and Simon Reade, and sees John Michie follow in the footsteps of John Hannah and Ken Stott as the titular character. As act two begins, the focus has moved from the fictional murder 'whodunnit' to the real-life murder that has taken place in the house with all the guests becoming suspects. As is the case with all good mysteries, there are a few red herrings to try and throw us off the scent before the story unfolds.This is a show that will probably be more pleasing for those who already have some kind of a relationship with the Rebus universe, as you get the added satisfaction of recognising some of the references (whether it’s the name of a former colleague, or something related to Rebus’ past), however it definitely stands alone well enough for you to go in blind. It certainly taps into the zeitgeist, as crime & detective fiction is still incredibly popular, and provides an alternative to the dominance of Agatha Christie stage productions. Rebus: A Game Called Malice Catch Jon (with no’H’) every Thursday from 9am for three hours of The Best of Stage & Screen right here on Box Office Radio It's not exactly Glass Onion, it's crystal thistle" is how actor Forbes Masson opens as he describes Ian Rankin and Simon Reade's new stage play Rebus: A Game Called Malice which he's currently rehearsing ahead of a run at Queen's Theatre Hornchurchthis February. It’s funny how writers can so competently and confidently write about subjects in which they have no expertise, managing to make it seem like they’re highly qualified – but then fall apart when they decide that one of their characters has to be an influencer or have some other vague interest in social media. The things these characters say just never quite sound natural, yet the remarks from the older generation that they’re trying to explain the whole concept to sound very familiar indeed… Candida (you already guessed it was her, didn’t you?) does at least develop and become slightly less predictable after her clunky introduction, but it’s clear that playwrights have now moved on from the obligatory selfie (that’s so 2010s) to the obligatory influencer to confirm modernity.

The new production is produced by Queen's Theatre Hornchurch where it premieres from the 2nd to the 25th of February 2023. "It's a really great theatre, it's welcoming and warm. What's great about Hornchurch is that it feels like a part of the community here. I come into the cafe and there are people coming in for the Dementia workshops and there are kids coming in too. It's really great to be in a theatre that is alive during the day. It shows what a theatre can be." Now, this isn’t your typical murder mystery; I’m notoriously not great at getting all the way to the solution in detective fiction (I work best with hunches and a bit of circumstantial evidence) – however, this is definitely a case that can only really be solved by someone on the stage rather than anyone sat in the audience, so don’t go in hoping to best DI Rebus. It is interesting how it spreads out from the original game scenario and brings in incidents from the characters’ lives, though it maybe overcomplicates the tangled web for a show with a relatively short running time, and means that suspense is rather overlooked in favour of wrapping everything up.Ian Rankin's Rebus character has now spanned 24 books and TV adaptations with Ken Stott and John Hannah playing the role but this new story has been written exclusively for the stage. "Rebus is such a popular character. It's great that the novelist has done it himself. I met Ian once, centuries ago at The Everyman in Liverpool, he came to see King Lear when I was doing the film with Pete Postlethwaite. This is a new play, Robin Lefevre is directing and it's a great cast with John Michie playing Rebus." It's a detective show, I've not really done anything like this before, it's set in a middle-class Edinburgh home. Rebus is invited to a dinner party and they're playing a murder mystery game after the desserts. The play uncovers a lot of the darker secrets of the Edinburgh underbelly with hidden truths revealed and then it takes a twist." Forbes rightly doesn't want to give too much away and rightly so.