Picture You Dead at the Richmond Theatre

Peter James writes in the programme that the novel came about after a meeting with a police colleague who told him of a real life passport forger from Brighton who was caught because of his poor grasp of spelling ‘Britania’ and ‘Magesty’ were the two key words which landed him in jail. While inside, he decided to use his creative skills to paint and when he came out, he started to copy famous artwork. Picture You Dead, was the embellishment of this story into a novel in 2022 and now turned into a play touring the UK.

The premise got me hooked while I was sitting reading it and the first 10 minutes were exactly as he'd described it before it started to take a life of its own. There were some funny moments unexpectedly and some good character development from the performers. We knew each step of the way what was likely to happen next, but that was part of the fun. As it unfolded to our expectation you could feel the audience thinking ‘I saw that coming’.

I laughed out loud at the Antique Roadshow filming, where the artwork bought at a car boot sales was amusingly valued by the flamboyant presenter, complete with edited out profanity when the real price is known.

The world of art apparently is riddled with forgers, erm I mean copyists. The fine line between doing it as a service for those who appreciate art but want it at lower cost, and those who try to get away with suggesting it's the original. The gut feel of an expert is the only measure in authenticating. James takes this concept to its conclusion with a rogue art dealer and his murdering accomplice. With two clever detectives on their tale, and an innocent couple caught up in the mix, it becomes a whodunnit.

The writing is what stands out in this play and it keeps you intrigued and excited to see what comes next. I can't really fault the direction, performances or the fantastic set. However, my perfectionist eye did notice a timing error on the audio where a lift noise was still evident when the police had already entered. I also found the erratic movement of the art dealer unnecessary but perhaps I was just too sensitive to the noise of his leather shoes shuffling on stage.

***** A big 4.9 stars, perfection was almost there.