Review: Inspector Morse: House of Ghosts at the Lowry, Salford
From the second the rhythmic taps, beeps and buzzing played out that familiar theme thune in morse code, an eager audience at the Lowry were transported from Salford to Oxford and the very first stage production of Inspector Morse.
What began on the pages of Colin Dexter’s novels before John Thaw and Shaun Evans’ television portrayals of the opera-loving, real ale swilling irascible detective has now found its way to the stage with Tom Chambers treading into the role.
‘House of Ghosts’, from Melting Pot and Birmingham Rep, is Morse’s latest case, and fittingly, centres on the theatre and the death of a young actress playing the tragic Ophelia in Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
As a long-time lover of Morse, I was understandably delighted to hear he had been given a new case to crack, and House of Ghosts, with its fiendish plot, colourful cast of characters and red herrings is a true delight.
Afficionados will be please to hear this new tale comes from the pen of Alma Cullen, who had previously written the television Morse episodes The Secret of Bay 5B (1989), The Infernal Serpent (1990), Fat Chance (1991) and The Death of The Self (1992).
Chambers has big shoes to fill, and while his portrayal may be a little more bumbling than televion viewers and readers may be used to in previous iterations of Morse, he definitely grows into the role as the plot thickens.
I feared at first this may be more Inspector Clouseau than Morse as our detective rushes onto the stage on a stage, but what follows is a reassuring, fresh, portrayal of the gruff Endeavour.
What begins as a suspicious death inquiry takes a darker turn when Morse uncovers a connection to sinister events in his own past, 25 years earlier.
It is a tale which keeps the audience gripped and guessing as our cast within a cast, plus a few other mysterious characters, provide plenty of clues for our crossword-loving sleuth.
Meanwhile, Morse simply would not be Morse without his faithful sidekick Lewis, this time played with gusto by Tachia Newall, as ever a great foil to our main man.
And this also would not be a Morse story without an intelligent, enigmatic lady for Morse, forever unlucky in love, to fall for – the character of Ellen, played in a wonderfully sympathetic, understated way by Teresa Banham.
Quite the mirror image to Ellen is the rambunctious director Lawrence, played with suitable gusto and ham by Jason Done, who cleverly also plays the very different clergyman Paul.
Directed by Anthony Banks, who was an associate director at the National Theatre 2004-2014, House of Ghosts is a gripping and intelligent murder mystery that is a more than fitting addition to the Morse canon.
Anthony said: “I’m very excited to be working with this fantastic cast who will bring these much-loved characters to life and make them their own. Alma Cullen’s original Morse story contains a play-within-a-play - an inspired concept for a murder mystery which reveals the similarities between playing a part when acting and covering-up a crime!”
It runs at the Lowry Theatre, Salford, until Saturday, April 11th.
Tickets are available from thelowry.com