A Game Called Malice: A Rebus Play

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Playing the lead role of John Rebus isJohn Michie ( Holby City, BBC), alongside Rebecca Charles( The Father, West End),Billy Hartman( Emmerdale, ITV );Emily Joyce( My Hero, BBC);Forbes Masson( The High Life, BBC);andEmma Noakes( Call The Midwife, BBC).

Why does Forbes think anyone should book to see Rebus: A Game Called Malice, he says "it'll be a good night out if you like mysteries and solving a mystery then you'll enjoy it, if you like good theatre you'll enjoy it. It's a really amazing bunch of actors and we're all getting on really well and there's some great work in the room. It's a great theatre to come and visit if you've not been to the Queen's Theatre before then come and visit it because it's a lovely theatre." As act two begins, the focus has moved from the fictional murder 'whodunnit' to the real-life murder that has taken place in the house with all the guests becoming suspects. As is the case with all good mysteries, there are a few red herrings to try and throw us off the scent before the story unfolds.

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Now, this isn’t your typical murder mystery; I’m notoriously not great at getting all the way to the solution in detective fiction (I work best with hunches and a bit of circumstantial evidence) – however, this is definitely a case that can only really be solved by someone on the stage rather than anyone sat in the audience, so don’t go in hoping to best DI Rebus. It is interesting how it spreads out from the original game scenario and brings in incidents from the characters’ lives, though it maybe overcomplicates the tangled web for a show with a relatively short running time, and means that suspense is rather overlooked in favour of wrapping everything up. It's not exactly Glass Onion, it's crystal thistle" is how actor Forbes Masson opens as he describes Ian Rankin and Simon Reade's new stage play Rebus: A Game Called Malice which he's currently rehearsing ahead of a run at Queen's Theatre Hornchurchthis February. Describing the show in 3 words Forbes says "Mystery, intrigue and revelation. Though it should be McMystery because it's set in Scotland". This turns our chat to being a Scot in a play set in his homeland. "At the moment I'm trying to find something that is not so Falkirk which is where I'm from. I have been watching a lot of Fraser Nelson. I'm really interested in these people who try and hide, very unsuccessfully, their accents." With a new adaptation of a beloved character, our chat led towards if there was any kind of pressure in creating this new version. "There is a lot of freedom when you create a role because you are the first person to do it and you're not looking over your shoulder thinking of what someone else did with it. Invariably I don't ever do that. I always try and find it myself. The responsibility is the story has to be quite clear and that the audience is really following it. It's quite a traditional set, it's a drawing room and I've not done that sort of thing before. In that sort of way, it's old fashioned but the play isn't, it's quite clever in that respect, you think it's one thing and then it goes somewhere else."

Rebus: A Game Called Malicewill be directed bythe award-winning Robin Lefevre, with design byTerry Parsons, lighting byMatthew Eagland, and composition and sound by Garth McConaghie.= Rebus: A Game Called Malice will be directed by the award-winning Robin Lefevre (who has worked extensively in the UK, Ireland and the United States); designed by Terry Parsons (who has designed 37 productions in London’s West End including Grease, Dominion Theatre and Singin’ In The Rain, The London Pallladium); with lighting design by Matthew Eagland ( The Life I Lead, Park Theatre and Wyndham’s Theatre); and joining them is composer and sound designer Garth McConaghie ( Derry Girls, Channel 4). Playing the lead role of John Rebus is John Michie, best known for his roles as DI Robbie Ross in STV’s Taggart, as Karl Munro in ITV’s Coronation Street and as Guy Self in BBC One’s Holby City. DI John Rebus has retired, but his mind is never far from the job – even when he’s been invited as a plus one to a swanky dinner party. Rebus: A Game Called Malice takes the detective off the streets of Edinburgh and into the realms of Agatha Christie’s famous sleuths; this new play (currently in a short run at Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch) has been written by Ian Rankin and Simon Reade, and sees John Michie follow in the footsteps of John Hannah and Ken Stott as the titular character. Rebus: A Game Called Malicewill be directed bythe award-winning Robin Lefevre(who has worked extensively in the UK, Ireland and the United States); designed byTerry Parsons(who has designed 37 productions in London’s West End including Grease, Dominion Theatre and Singin’ In The Rain, The London Pallladium ); with lighting design byMatthew Eagland( The Life I Lead, Park Theatre and Wyndham’s Theatre); and joining them is composer and sound designerGarth McConaghie ( Derry Girls, Channel 4).Rebus: A Game Called Malice will be directed by the award-winning Robin Lefevre (who has worked extensively in the UK, Ireland and the United States); designed by Terry Parsons (who has designed 37 productions in London’s West End including Grease, Dominion Theatre and Singin’ In The Rain, The London Palladium ); with lighting design by Matthew Eagland ( The Life I Lead, Park Theatre and Wyndham’s Theatre); and joining them is composer and sound designer Garth McConaghie ( Derry Girls, Channel 4). Ian Rankin has been elected a Hawthornden Fellow. He is also a past winner of the Chandler-Fulbright Award, and he received two Dagger Awards for the year's best short story and the Gold Dagger for Fiction. Ian Rankin is also the recipient of honorary degrees from the universities of Abertay, St Andrews, and Edinburgh. If you like a good murder mystery that is well written with great characters and some good humour thrown in for good measure superbly performed by the cast, then this is a perfect way to spend a couple of hours at the theatre. Last Updated on 9th January 2023 Cast and creatives have been announced for the world premiere of Ian Rankin and Simon Reade’s Rebus: A Game Called Malice at the Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch.