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." 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) has been 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. If you like a good murder mystery that is well written with great characters and some good humour thrown in for good measure superbly performed by the cast, then this is a perfect way to spend a couple of hours at the theatre.

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. 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. 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.

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Tags: A Game Called Malice, Forbes Masson, Ian Rankin, John Hannah, John Michie, Ken Stott, London, Queens Theatre Hornchurch, Rebecca Charles, Rebus, Rebus: A Game Called Malice, review, Simon Reade, Terry Parsons, theatre Categories: all posts, review, theatre Ian Rankin has been elected a Hawthornden Fellow. He is also a past winner of the Chandler-Fulbright Award, and he received two Dagger Awards for the year's best short story and the Gold Dagger for Fiction. Ian Rankin is also the recipient of honorary degrees from the universities of Abertay, St Andrews, and Edinburgh. The cast of Rebus: A Game Called Malice includes John Michie, Rebecca Charles, Billy Hartman, Emily Joyce, Forbes Masson and Emma Noakes.

As we take our seats in the auditorium, it is clear Terry Parsons has done an excellent job with the set design. We are presented on stage with the scene from a very elegant dining room with lots of pictures hanging from every wall. We are given the feeling that this is a very large old house complete with very high ceilings and the owner clearly is very rich. On that subject, I normally don’t approve of an interval being forced into a show whose performance lasts only around 90 minutes, as it generally interrupts the flow and takes you out of the moment; it just about works in this case, though, as the first act ends on a natural cliffhanger and it gives the audience a chance to regroup & talk theories. Perhaps having Rebus briefly break the fourth wall at the beginning of the second act (as he does at the very start and end of the play) might have made the restart a little more theatrical, and further justified the intermission. 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. Michie will be joined by Rebecca Charles ( The Dresser, Theatre Royal Bath and The Father, Duke of York Theatre, Wyndham’s Theatre); Billy Hartman (best known for playing the part of Terry Woods on ITV’s Emmerdale); Emily Joyce (best known for playing Janet Dawkins in BBC One’s My Hero); Forbes Masson (best known for his classical theatre roles and comedy partnership with Alan Cumming – The High Life, BBC Two); and Emma Noakes (best known for BBC One’s Call The Midwife and leading roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company).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. Forbes takes on the role of Paul Godwin in the play and tells me "he's a property developer. He's clawed his way up, he's upper middle class now but I don't think he was to begin with. He's very money orientated. He's a bit of a wheeler-dealer". Theatre is clearly a lifelong passion for Forbes, he tells me it means "everything" to him. "It's been my life and continues to be my life and hopefully continues to be my life". Though clarifies that "family is everything too". Forbes has enjoyed success on stage and screen "interestingly last year I did a bit more TV again which I hadn't done for a while and I was really enjoying TV again but theatre is something I've always loved. I love the fact you are a part of a team, it can be quite solitary when working on TV or film whereas in the theatre you're very much a part of the team. You are instantly reacting with the audience and it's the best thing in the world." Playing the lead role of John Rebus is John Michie, best known for his roles as DI Robbie Ross in STV’s Taggart, as Karl Munro in ITV’s Coronation Street and as Guy Self in BBC One’s Holby City.

It’s funny how writers can so competently & 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. 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! 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. Simon Reade is a renowned adaptor. His extensive stage adaptations include Pride & Prejudice (Regent’s Park/Guthrie Minneapolis), Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (TMA Award winner), Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children and Ted Hughes’s Tales From Ovid – both for the Royal Shakespeare Company where he was Literary Manager. Reade has also been Literary Manager for London’s Gate Theatre, Artistic Director of Bristol Old Vic, and has worked as a development producer for Tiger Aspect Productions and BBC Drama.

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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." Michie will be joined byRebecca Charles( The Dresser, Theatre Royal Bath and The Father, Duke of York Theatre, Wyndham’s Theatre);Billy Hartman(best known for playing the part of Terry Woods on ITV’s Emmerdale);Emily Joyce(best known for playing Janet Dawkins in BBC One’s My Hero);Forbes Masson(best known for his classical theatre roles and comedy partnership with Alan Cumming – The High Life, BBC Two);andEmma Noakes(best known for BBC One’s Call The Midwife and leading roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company). The play centres on the dinner party and I posed Forbes the age-old question of who would be his dream guests to join him for one. "I'm so boring, I'm such a theatre-type person, so I'd probably have lots of theatre people. Actors of the past and of the present mixing together. Dull, a busman's holiday" he jokes. 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 During Act 2, John Rebus digs a little deeper into the history of each of the guests, slowly discovering a motive for each to have committed this crime. The play finishes, as it began, with John Rebus once again breaking the fourth wall and talking to the audience before leaving the stage.