Review: The Daughter Of Time (Charing Cross Theatre)

Review by Daz Gale

⭐️⭐️

Josephine Tey’s seminal crime novel comes to life as the stage adaptation of The Daughter Of Time gets its world premiere at Charing Cross Theatre. In a less than stellar year for this particular theatre, could this production clear its name and restore it to its former glory?

First published in 1951, The Daughter Of Time is set in 1950 where police Inspector Alan Grant finds himself confined to a hospital bed with a broken leg. With the luxury of time, he takes it upon himself to solve a mystery from nearly 500 years ago - that of the supposed crimes of King Richard III. Simply from looking at a picture of him, he decides he doesn't look like a murderer (I wasn't aware it was as simple as that) and decides to clear Richard's name from thr accusations of murdering his nephews. The story also throws in a bit of Shakespeare and a love triangle too for good measure.

You may be wondering how this production could get around the pitfalls of having the main character laid up in bed for the majority of the play without it coming across as dull and monotonous. With that, you have stumbled upon the biggest question there is. I can confirm that mystery is never solved, and therein lies the biggest problem with The Daughter Of Time.

Retaining interest is the biggest problem The Daughter Of Time. Having never read the book, I can't vouch for how captivating or intriguing it is, though the fact it is widely regarded as one of the greatest crime novels suggests it is anything but boring. Sadly, the same cannot be said for the stage production. For close to three hours, we watch Inspector Grant talk at length and theorise about the long dead King in a way that can be described as far from interesting, to put it nicely. I found myself asking "Why should I care?".

That may sound harsh, but I struggled to understand what the purpose of this production was. A niche interest, you would need to have a similar interest in the story of Richard III, otherwise it will prove the equivalent of watching somebody talk about their stamp collection fot 3 hours. Good theatre should instill the passion of the subject into the audience, no matter your own personal passions and preferences. This doesn't manage that in the slightest.

Watching a character lay near motionless for far too long, talking in riddles for even longer left me longing for any sort of connection. I wanted to buy into the stakes but they were nowhere to be seen. Instead, we had a plodding plot with no real reason for him to do this apart from sheer boredom - the same thing he ended up inflicting on the audience in a production that seemed to enjoy the solidarity of suffering.

M. Kilburg Reedy's adaptation is overlong and tedious, running at nearly three hours. In desperate need of a trim, supporting characters are one-dimensional with unnatural dialogue and a seemingly lack of understanding in how humans talk to each other making this a very difficult watch. A bizarre subplot involving French cheese proves every bit as enthralling and exciting as you'd expect and is given far too much stage time for something as insignificant and inconsequential as that. Meanwhile, attempts at a love triangle and some thinly veiled references to a closeted homosexual as well as relationship problems with a one-dimensional character and his never seen girlfriend made this production so puzzling, not even the largest investigation board could make it all tie together.

The direction doesn't fare much better, with poor choices and an incredibly overused usage of one character bumping into another in the door demonstrating a subpar quality than you would expect in a production such as this. Having seemingly disregarded the criticisms from this theatre's ill-received production of Rebecca, the folding stage makes a return to transform Grant's hospital room to the Ivy, while the simple addition of a curtain makes the stage The Old Vic. The lack in direction is evident in cast members not knowing what to do at times, with unnatural reactions and mannerisms and far too clumsy moments involving props and characters tripping over, suggesting the direction wasn't tight enough to get their blocking locked in in time.

Rob Pomfret leads the cast as Inspector Alan Grant, doing his best to overcome the challenges from the writing, direction and the character's static circumstances to attempt to bring some interest to the situation. There's only so much one man can do though and, despite his best efforts, this is never accomplished. Rachel Pickup charms as actress Marta Hallard, lighting up the stage with her appearances, while Noah Huntley brings a bit of Shakespeare and the only successful comic moments as Nigel Templeton.

Supporting characters are underwritten, though Hafsa Abbasi and Janna Fox get some of the better moments as Grant's two nurses. Sanya Adegbola struggles with the character choices given to him as Sergeant Williams, while Harrison Sharpe gets a completely bizarre turn as Brent Carradine, feeling like he is from a different play altogether through some strange and overblown choices. In these cases, I am confident this is not the fault of the actors but more the direction given to them, or perhaps not given to them as the case may be.

Tonally, The Daughter Of Time doesn't know what it wants to be, never quite settling on one or another. Attempts at comedy fall flat, while the supposed suspense as Grant tries to solve the mystery lacks any suspense. Far too long and poorly paced, it proves a real struggle to get through, as seen through more empty seats after the interval than there had been before. If you loved history at school, you may find something to enjoy in this overlong lecture. However, if you're more a fan of drama, you'll wonder why there's none to be found here, despite theatre itself playing part of the story. Clearly, The Daughter Of Time has proved popular in the past but, in this medium, it is a massive misfire. If Richard III really has been wronged by history, this play doesn't so much put it right as add insult to injury. When it comes to the case of how to bring this story to the stage in a way that is interesting and suspenseful, sadly the case remains unsolved.

The Daughter Of Time plays at Charing Cross Theatre until 13th September. Tickets from https://allthatdazzles.londontheatredirect.com/play/the-daughter-of-time-tickets

Photos by Manuel Harlan