THEATRE: Fatal Attraction - Keighley Playhouse

Mention the title Fatal Attraction and you think of Michael Douglas getting kinky with Glenn Close in a lift and then living to regret it.

Keighley Playhouse's production of the play with the same name may not have the big Hollywood names, but it certainly doesn't lack the star quality or tension.

The thriller by Bernard Slade, which shares only the film's title, centres on faded movie star Blair Griffin, played by Debbie Bowman.

She is hounded by photo-journalist Tony Lombardi (Paul Glover), who Blair finally invites into her New England home.

When her husband Howard turns up, the photographer snaps and takes a knife to him.

Enter mild-mannered detective Gus Braden (Julian Freeman) who has to discover the motive for murder.

What follows is a plot with more twists and turns than a road in the Dales.

Debbie Bowman and Julian Freeman are excellent as the faded star and the laconic but embittered cop with a penchant for the bottle, creating crackling tension whenever they are together.

Freeman also shows fine comic timing, and there is fine support from Paul Glover as the camp cameraman and Jan Darnbrough as Blair's agent, Maggie Stratton.

Director Kevin Moore handles things with a deft touch and the imaginative set is the perfect backdrop. Thankfully the American accents are pretty flawless as well.

The only gripe I have is about the temperature in the Playhouse. By the end of the show I felt like a self-basting turkey.

But that doesn't detract from a thriller that generates plenty of heat on stage.

Fatal Attraction runs until tomorrow.

richard brugger