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Alys, Always: A superbly disquieting psychological thriller

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It's more of a slow build than a thriller as such as we learn more and more about Frances's ambitions and dark side. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Theatre includes The Tempest, Cymbeline and The White Devil at Shakespeare’s Globe; and Queen Anne for the RSC in the West End.

So this is a kind of belated coming of age story as Frances, an invisible ugly duckling turns into a highly visible swan. Are her actions motivated by ruthless ambition or is she just doing what anyone might do to help a grieving family? There are shades of Alan Bennett, that master of observation of English middle-class mediocrity, in some of Lane's descriptions of Frances's mother, from whose kitchen the food rolls out in marshalled surges, like Bomber Command. A psychological thriller excavating the fault lines that separate the entitled from the rest, Alys, Always is adapted for the stage by Lucinda Coxon from Harriet Lane's gripping novel.Harriet Lane's exceptional first novel matches the twisted motivations of Sophie Hannah to the social satire of Amanda Craig's A Vicious Circle .

But from its tedious archetypes to its tired satire, Alys, Always makes for wasted opportunities across multiple fronts. One evening, driving back to London after visiting her infuriating parents, she comes across an upturned car crumpled on the side of the road. She then stays with the woman, Alice Kite, giving her words of comfort and encouragement while awaiting arrival of the ambulance.What then follows is Frances Thorpe giving those reading her story a total masterclass in opportunism and social climbing as she inveigles her way in to the lives of the Kytes, through deceit, manipulation and flattery. It tells the story of Frances, a lowly sub-editor and general dogsbody on the books desk of a Sunday newspaper. That the play isn’t really saying much is emphasised by the short essays in the accompanying programme. With the Bridge in its thrust configuration Bob Crowley’s sleek set inventively slides locations across the stage and up through the lifts, with Luke Halls’ projections helping to set the scene and Christina Cunningham’s costume designs charting Frances’ course from invisible to power player. Earlier this year the Daily Telegraph ran a teaser in its print edition: ‘Jemima Khan: My verdict on the shake-up at Radio 2’.

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