Knife Edge (Tour – Salford)

When Brian Shelton loses his son to a knife attack his main focus becomes his obsession to make the culprit of the crime pay. In an act of revenge, guilt and torment he invites his fellow residents to witness a dual to the death where either he or the young man’s killer will die that night.  Wwill the guilty party show up and will Brian be able to go through with it?

This is the premise for Mark Whiteley’s new thriller, which on paper looks like it could be an interesting look at a father’s breakdown from the loss of his child but, on stage proves to be something far less gripping.

A show dealing with this subject matter should evoke emotion from audience members, allow them to feel the father’s pain and almost understand why he’s taking such extreme measures, but the clunky script instead spends much of the evening putting everything in such a matter of fact way which means that any connection to him or his situation is lost in the mix.

With his wife’s arrival we hope to see and feel how the son’s death has changed the marriage and affected them as a functioning couple, but instead we are left with some shallow bickering which only briefly allows us to see a glimpse of humanity. As if that wasn’t doing enough harm the plot holes are the final nail. How could they be doing this duel to the death in a theatre?  How was it the residents all new this duel was happening but the wife didn’t?

As the piece plodded towards the climax it becomes apparent long before the ‘twist’ exactly what the surprise is, meaning the final moments fizzles out.

The one saving grace of this piece however is the fantastic cast. Howard Chadwick as Brian balances the father and the avenger beautifully; his simple stares of emptiness tell a thousand words. Jill Myers in an underwritten character gives it all she has as the grieving mother in a powerful and raw performance. Scene stealer Nicky Bell plays a young trouble maker and he provides one of the night’s most moving moments. Hats off also to John Elkington as a reporter there to bear witness to the nights events.

Knife Edge has an interesting and thought-provoking premise and there is an interesting play screaming to get out, sadly though it does not live up to that potential.

– Craig Hepworth