From the title and basic information, what you might assume about this play is most likely incorrect.
To clean up any confusion, this play has nothing to do with the famous Leonardo DiCaprio film. I assumed most people knew this but, unfortunately, according to 2 women in front of me, it wasn’t clear that Leonardo DiCaprio would not be attending Richmond Theatre.
As a suspense thriller, you may assume you will be sitting there scared to your bones, but you would in reality find yourself laughing at the witty American characters constantly dismissing the main character, Daniel Corban.
Written in the mid-1960s by Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilberg, the play is centred around the vanishing of Daniel Corban's new spouse from their honeymoon cabin in the Catskill Mountains of upper New York State. Daniel Corban, played by Patrick Duffy, is initially established to be this kind, likeable man desperate to retrieve his loved wife. However, the audience is left not really understanding what to believe by the intermission. The detective, Inspector Levine, played by Gray O'Brien, is a typical new york character and is clearly very disinterested in Daniel Corban's efforts to find his wife. He reminds him throughout the play he is a busy man, and this does much to increase the audience’s frustration, as the painful lack of progress is transparent.
While seemingly having no progress to find his wife, his “wife” magically appears at his door! Inspector Levine is so relieved and is ready to close the case, but Daniel Corban is persistent to say this mysterious blonde woman is not his wife. With a stranger in his bedroom, Inspector Levine and Daniel have to argue that he will not just accept this completely random stranger as his new and improved wife, unlike Inspector Levine.
The new “wife”, played by the talented Linda Purl, reveals her “true” intentions once the inspector leaves, which is supposed to kill Daniel and accept his large life insurance. I apologise for the number of apostrophes used, but what's considered truth in this play flips every 30 seconds, so nothing can be confirmed.
After a long attempt to embarrass Daniel Corban and convince the Inspector he's completely crazy, the audience’s perspective completely changes in the last ten minutes, where all is unfolded.
Overall, this play is entertaining, comical and has a whirlwind of plot twists. I asked Tracey Wardhaugh, a woman who saw the play what she thought of it. She commented “The play is amusing, and the American cast did a good job keeping the audience on their toes”, which summaries how most of the Richmond audience was left felt.
