Every good psychological thriller fan knows The Silence of the Lambs. The story of young, green FBI trainee Clarice Starling meeting Hannibal (the cannibal) Lecter and using his knowledge and expertise to catch a serial killer known as Buffalo Bill. It’s a dance, a game of tennis with information being batted back and forth, and a story that is as much about the journey as it is about the destination.
Those familiar with the story will likely know it from the five-time Oscar-winning film starring Sir Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster. However, this new theatrical version is based on the original novel by Thomas Harris instead. For this reason, you won’t find the key lines from the film that everyone knows – there’s no fava beans or nice Chianti here. This gives the production a place of its own, meaning it isn’t relying on familiarity for its entertainment.
Eastenders’ John Partridge as Dr Hannibal Lecter is the perfect mix of cold and calculated, while also being intriguing and strangely likeable (as likeable as a cannibal can be). For much of the show, he’s contained within his own Perspex box, which serves as his cell, as well as a sort of stage within a stage, allowing us to see what Buffalo Bill is up to at the same time. Meanwhile, Coronation Street’s Mollie Gallagher as Clarice is every bit as strong and gutsy as you would imagine, and we see her develop from a young FBI trainee at the academy into a determined investigator as the story reaches its denouement.
The staging works backwards towards the rear of the stage rather than from left to right, giving the play a cinematic quality and creating a dynamism that is very welcome. Combined with the synthy, cop-show-style music and the ‘boys’ club’ mentality of the FBI officers, this transports us back to a different time. Stairways, handrails and a rusty-looking bridge all help to set the scene, alongside some very clever projection work which is used effectively but sparingly throughout.
Sam Jackson does a great job as Jame Gumb, or Buffalo Bill, as he dances around the stage with his famous skin coat. He spends much of his time at his sewing machine in his underwear, but remains a chilling presence, with a genuinely unhinged quality that makes him all the more unsettling.
It’s no easy task to capture the magic of a story that has become such a cornerstone of both cinema and the psychological thriller genre, but writer Gina Gionfriddo and director Nikolai Foster manage to do just that, and brilliantly so. Running until Saturday 14th November in Belfast, I thoroughly enjoyed this theatrical adaptation of The Silence of the Lambs. It’s definitely one for the thriller lovers out there.
To find out more information or to book tickets, click here.
