Review: Peter James’ Picture You Dead at LOWRY is ‘a suspenseful masterpiece that keeps audiences on edge’

A chance discovery of a lost masterpiece leads an ordinary couple into a world of conspiracy, crime and intrigue in Peter James’ Picture You Dead at LOWRY.

Directed by Jonathan O’ Boyle and coming from the mind of British crime writer Peter James, bestselling author of the Roy Grace novels (adapted for television as Grace for ITV) comes a Roy Grace crime story that makes the dramatic leap from page to the stage.

Peter James’ Picture You Dead at LOWRY

The plot follows the young couple of Harry and Freya Kipling who are struggling to make ends meet after Freya’s recent redundancy. They return from a car boot sale and finally find some good fortune when they realise the ugly painting they bought for £20 secretly hides another painting underneath. After consulting with their artist friend

Dave Hegarty and a trip to an antiques television show they find out that their new painting could potentially be a lost masterpiece.

Meanwhile, DSI Roy Grace and his partner Bella Moy have opened up a cold case from 2016, concerning the unsolved murder of an art dealer.

This leads them to Dave Hegarty’s workshop, as Dave is actually an ex-con turned expert copyist of art forgery.

Both plots thicken and intertwine with one another when Harry and Freya’s episode of the antiques is broadcast nationwide and attracts the attention of scheming collector Stuart Piper and his ruthless associate Roberta Kilgore, who will stop at nothing to get their hands on the masterpiece.

Peter Ash shines as Dave Hegarty

A stellar cast brings the crime drama to life, Peter Ash shines as he shows off his charismatic and comedic presence as the charming art forger Dave Hegarty. George Rainsford plays Detective Superintendent Roy Grace and brings a calm and controlled performance in an enjoyable double act with Gemma Stroyan’s Bella Moy as they try to unravel the plot. Fiona Wade and Ben Cutler both bring fun believable performances as Freya and Harry Kipling.

Nicholas Maude brings an excellent mix of sharp wit and simmering malice as crooked collector Stuart Piper and Jodie Steele brings a venomously good performance as his no-nonsense American problem solver Roberta Kilgore.

Nicholas Maude as Stuart Piper

Rounding out the cast are Adam Morris and Mark Oxtoby, Morris who plays a very convincing antiques roadshow-style host Oliver De Souza, who appraises the Kipling’s painting on television and Mark Oxtoby brings his own sly energy in his role as career burglar Archie Goff.

The show is paced to be a slow burn, introducing the characters to the audience in the first act. While the second act progresses much faster as the show races toward its dramatic conclusion. The show follows a two-act structure with a run time of 2 hours and 30 minutes, including the interval.

A strength of the show is the impressively designed sets (by Designer Adrian Linford) that bring the setting of James’s novel to life. The stage is split into four with three rooms, the Kipling’s living room, Dave’s art workshop and Piper’s elegant manor house. Each of these rooms is intricately designed like a mini tv show set and really makes the show come alive.

This contrasts with the minimalist police station of Grace and Moy, which is simply a lane in front of the rooms that they patrol as they gain more evidence and clues as the plot progresses. Another strength is the sound design (by Max Peppenheimer) with the usual dramatic stings combined with music that really helps to set the tone and build the atmosphere.

Tickets for Peter James’ Picture You Dead at LOWRY

Written by Peter James and adapted for the stage by playwright Shaun McKenna, Picture You Dead is a suspensive crime thriller with twists, turns and double bluffs that offers a look into the darker side of art and the deceptive world of art forgery.

Peter James’ Picture You Dead is showing at LOWRY until Saturday 19th April.

You can get tickets by clicking here