Dangerous Lady, Theatre Royal Stratford East - review

Violence and corruption in London's 1960s underworld where a 17-year-old young woman takes on gangland's hardmen
29 October 2012

No one could accuse Stratford East of underserving Martina Cole of late. This is the third page-to-stage adaptation in as many years of one of Cole’s bestselling crime novels set in the London underworld and it’s another juicy chunk of soap-opera theatre, all big events and even bigger emotions.

It’s certainly a slick filleting of the book by Patrick Prior, even if the whirligig of short scenes — 48 in all — doesn’t allow for much psychological acuity. But hey, who needs insight and motive when there’s Michael Ryan, the “biggest villain in London”, who thumps about declaring, “I ain’t scared of nobody, not even God”? Michael (James Clyde) has obviously never heard of the hubris-nemesis axis.

He’s the older brother of good-natured Maura (Claire-Louise Cordwell), who, after a traumatic early affair — plus a wince-makingly graphic gynaecological scene — with policeman Terry (Paul Woodson), decides to join the shady family business empire. She’s the Dangerous Lady of the title and it’s a full-blooded down-the-decades performance from the reliably excellent Cordwell.

There’s neat work too from Veronica Quilligan as the Ryans’ devout Irish Catholic materfamilias, perpetually prepared to bend a religious principle if she thinks it will help her wayward offspring. It’s fascinating to watch the hardening of her attitude towards her only daughter over the years, while her three sons, dopey, deadbeat and vicious respectively, remain unable to do any wrong in her eyes. Lisa Goldman’s virtually décor-free production whizzes us through everything with brisk efficiency, with changing styles of clothes and hair marking the passing of time, as the body count mounts and family loyalties are stretched to breaking point and beyond. It might be a rough-and-ready storytelling style, but it’s effective and eminently watchable.

Until November 17 (020 8534 0310, stratfordeast.com)

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