A new stage production of Fatal Attraction, based on the classic Paramount Pictures Corporation film, is set to appear at the Theatre Royal Bath from Tuesday 8th to Saturday 12th February as part of a nationwide tour.
Image: Susie Amy, Kym Marsh and Oliver Farnworth
Kym Marsh (Coronation Street, The Syndicate, Morning Live, Hear’Say) stars as Alex Forrest with Oliver Farnworth (Coronation Street, Mr Selfridge, The Royal, The Girl On The Train) as her lover, Dan Gallagher, and Susie Amy (ITV’s Footballers’ Wives, Hollyoaks, Echo Beach) as Dan’s wife, Beth. Directed by Loveday Ingram, the new theatre production sees James Dearden adapt his definitive movie thriller for the stage.
When happily married New York attorney Dan Gallagher, meets charming editor Alex on a night out in the city, they both commit to a night of passion they can’t take back. Dan returns home to his family and tries to forget the mistake he has made, but Alex has different ideas. Dan’s about to discover that love is a dangerous game, and Alex has only one rule; you play fair with her, and she’ll play fair with you.
This provocative and gripping tale of seduction and suspense promises edge of the seat entertainment as Fatal Attraction asks the question: what happens when desire becomes deadly?
Kym Marsh is well-loved by television, music and theatre audiences following her achievements as an actress and singer on screen and stage. She starred as Michelle Connor in ITV's Coronation Street for 13 years appearing in more than 1,600 episodes, winning many awards including the coveted Best Female Dramatic Performance in 2017. Recently, Kym appeared in Kay Mellor's long running BBC comedy-drama The Syndicate and has presented BBC One's hit day-time show Morning Live. The former singer was part of the hugely successful noughties pop band Hear'Say, who had two UK number one singles and a UK number one album. The award-winning actress now returns to the stage for the first time since starring in Elf The Musical in 2019 on UK tour.
Oliver Farnworth is best known on television for playing Andy Carver in more than 200 episodes of Coronation Street, before leaving the series in one of the most sensational storylines in recent years at the hand of the villainous Pat Phelan. His other television credits include the role of Florian Dupont in Mr Selfridge and Neville Cartwright in The Royal, as well as roles in Hollyoaks, Doctors and Endeavour. Oliver trained at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. His previous stage credits include Jonathan Harvey’s Beautiful Thing in the West End and on UK tour; The Marilyn Conspiracy on international tour; Kes at Liverpool Playhouse and on UK tour; Inherit the Wind at the New Vic; and A Midsummer Night’s Dream for the British Shakespeare Company. He last performed at Bath’s Theatre Royal in The Girl On The Train in 2019.
Susie Amy became a household name for her role as Chardonnay in Footballers’ Wives, and has since starred in the American miniseries La Femme Musketeer with Gérard Depardieu and Nastassja Kinski; ITV’s Echo Beach and Moving Wallpaper with Ben Miller. Some of the many prime time dramas Susie has appeared in also include Hollyoaks, Plus One, My Family, Coronation Street, New Street Law, Hotel Babylon, Death In Paradise, The Royal, Holby City, Casualty, Dark Realm and Sirens. Her theatre credits include The Marilyn Conspiracy at the Edinburgh Festival; the UK tours of Out Of Order, Rehearsal For Murder, Wait Until Dark and After Juliet at the Young Vic and the National Theatre. Susie last performed at the Theatre Royal Bath in Murder on the Nile in 2012.
The cast is completed by John Macaulay as Jimmy and Troy Glasgow as O’Rourke with understudy Emma Laird Craig.
Fatal Attraction is the latest thriller from the producers of the celebrated tours of Patrick Hamilton’s Gaslight and Patricia Highsmith’s Strangers on a Train. Fatal Attraction is written by James Dearden, who based the stage play on his Oscar-nominated screenplay, which in turn was adapted from his 1980 short film, Diversion. The production is directed by Loveday Ingram with set and costume design by Morgan Large, lighting design by Jack Knowles, sound design by Carolyn Downing and music composed by Paul Englishby.
Director Loveday Ingram said: “I am excited to be working on this brilliant new stage adaptation of the iconic film Fatal Attraction. It’s a gripping, fast-paced psychological thriller that deals with complicated issues of consent, trust and responsibility. The play asks some difficult questions. Audiences today will no doubt respond differently to the ‘bunny boiler’ character Alex, made famous by Glenn Close, and the debate it ignites today will be very different from 1988 as our awareness of mental health has progressed significantly. We have an exceptional cast, led by Kym Marsh, together with a first-class creative team, and set against the glamour and romance of Manhattan, the show promises to provide an evening of passion and debate.”
Loveday Ingram’s many credits include The Rover and The Merchant of Venice for the Royal Shakespeare Company; My One and Only in the West End and at Chichester Festival Theatre, which was nominated for four Olivier Awards and an Evening Standard Award; Outlying Islands and Lettice and Lovage at Bath’s Theatre Royal; and the West End productions of When Harry Met Sally and Bedroom Farce. At Chichester, where she was Associate Director for three years, Loveday also directed The Blue Room, Dead Funny, Insignificance, Three Sisters and Pal Joey, which was nominated for the TMA and Barclay Awards for Best Musical. Her stage productions in Ireland include Boston Marriage, Samuel Beckett’s Rockabye, and an Irish Times award-winning production of Hysteria. In 2020 Loveday produced, wrote and directed a short film selected to represent Women’s Aid internationally for the campaign for Elimination of Violence Against Women.
Fatal Attraction was one of 1987’s highest grossing US Box Office releases and one of the most iconic films of its era. It secured six major Oscar nominations at the following year’s Academy Awards, including: Best Actress for Glenn Close’s mesmerising depiction of Alex Forrest, Best Supporting Actress for Anne Archer, Best Writing Adapted Screenplay for James Dearden, Best Director for Adrian Lyne, Best Editing and Best Picture. Michael Douglas - at the peak of his Hollywood powers - was omitted from the list only as he was nominated elsewhere in the Best Actor category for his role as Gordon ‘greed is good’ Gecko in Wall Street, which he went on to win. Fatal Attraction’s success inspired a host of thrillers in the years that followed.
Fatal Attraction appears at the Theatre Royal Bath from Tuesday 8th to Saturday 12th February. Tickets are on sale at the Theatre Royal Bath Box Office on 01225 448844 and online at www.theatreroyal.org.uk
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