#Review: The Incident Room, Liverpool, The Black-E, Friday 2nd June

*****

Friday nights are not usually reserved for dates with serial killers. However, the gripping true story of the hunt for the Yorkshire ripper, brilliantly portrayed by Old Fruit Jar Productions, a North-West based production company, happened to be mine. 

The play – The Incident Room – directed by the discerning and astute Alex Carr, is pretty much what it says on the tin. An emotive, informative, clenching and compassionately human portrayal of those locked within the frustration of Peter Sutcliffe’s elusive trail of carnage, set inside a 70’s incident room. A period piece in look and design, this storming story is equally as shocking as it is revealing; the lives of so many within the police viciously entangled in a drama that saw more murders than it ever should have. Sutcliffe was a monster – a monster that evaded detection despite the blood, sweat, tears, insomnia and breakdowns of those desperate to catch him. That desperation, amid rising tensions and years of shattered hopes and mistakes, was portrayed with outstanding conviction by a young cast who helped a stunned audience live every aching minute of their turmoil.

Florence King, who played Sergeant Megan Winterburn, gave a sensitive yet strong and determined portrayal of a woman who worked round the clock, and against many prejudicial odds, to catch one of the UK’s most notorious killers. In a time when women were undervalued and emasculated, Winterburn’s strength of mind and tireless commitment to the cause was prominent in the production, testament to King’s understanding and empathy for the predicament of her character.

Florence King as Megan Winterburn

Whilst the collective heart of the audience pounded for the plight of Winterburn, Luke Seddon was providing the perfect anti-hero with his fierce and utterly indulged portrayal of George Oldfield – the copper who misses his opportunities and ends up being demoted. It wasn’t hard to believe his onset of chest problems with Seddon’s impassioned, stirring and at times crazed execution. Oldfield was chiefly responsible for the institutional negligence that helped Sutcliffe remain elusive; Seddon wore this heaviness with startling accuracy.

Luke Seddon as George Oldfield

Jordan Barkley’s exceptionally earnest, emotive portrayal of the story’s could-be hero, Andrew Laptew, provided the perfect antithesis to Oldfield; young versus old, open-minded versus stubborn, creative versus dyed-in-the-wool, fervently involved versus dismissive journeyman. This was the 70’s though, and hierarchy wielded its iron fist. Barkley’s performance was the one that, ultimately, prompted gulps and misty eyes – Laptew could have saved some of the victims if he’d been stronger of mind and will. Barkley left the audience bereft of no part of Laptew’s guilt, sorrow and disdain for what could have been

Jordan Barkley as Andrew Laptew

The impressive thing about this re-enactment was the constant knife-edge intensity. Josh Ennis played detective Dick Holland with poise and a touch of swagger, providing some rationale and thoughtfulness in an otherwise hectic investigation room. Together with the always quirky, at times humorous, yet ultimately compelling portrayal of two Manchester CID, Jim Hobson and Jack Ridgway, by the consummate Anthony Roberts, they offered genuine thought-provocation and humanity in amongst the disarray. Added to Rachel McGrath’s stunningly sincere performance as Yorkshire Ripper survivor, Maureen Long, and Ciara O’Neill’s unfeigned presentation of downtrodden female police officer, Sylvia Swanson, these characters provided crucial flesh in a story that was as unsettling as it was appeasing.

With public and political pressure mounting on the police forces involved in this round-the-clock manhunt, the story wouldn’t have been legitimate without a nosey, snooping, greasy-pole-climbing but ultimately imperative journalist appearing intermittently in the incident room like Banquo’s ghost. Christina Rose’s depiction of Tish Morgan was feisty, pacey and at times poignant – a reminder to us all in the audience (where you could have heard a pin drop) that the pulsing eye of expectation and frustration hung somewhere, omnipresent, waiting for the prime catch.

A disturbing and historic story, The Incident Room is the product of a remarkable vision from Director, Carr, and its realisation from an undeniably gifted cast of burgeoning talent. It’s not easy to hold an audience for over two hours in the grip of push and pull, highs and lows, calm and sway. By the time the whole house stood on its feet (many fighting for their dry eyes) to applaud a truly affecting, dramatic, rousing and spirited performance of a story we all wish had never happened, it left me understanding the importance and power of stories and how we tell them to future generations.

I tip my hat to Old Fruit Jar Productions. This is local theatre with edge and presence.