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    A Role to Die For review: A farcical romp that has a license to thrill

    It feels like we’ve been waiting 007 million years to find out who will be the next Bond. With casting speculation rife since Craig's departure from the franchise in 2021, it seems like we hear the same names (we’re looking at you, Idris Elba, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Theo James) EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. And it appears that any male aged 20-40 is eligible, with any actor falling into this remit being asked if they would like the role, or are in the running for the prestigious job, in any press junket they attend - no matter what show they are promoting. If we know anything, we know that it’s not a quick process to assign a new double-o agent to his majesty's Secret Service. 

    So, when American producer Deborah (Tanya Franks) finds out that her chosen Bond has been found guilty of sending indecent messages to underage girls (“Dr No-Concent”), and the world's press are expecting a name at the press conference the following day, she is given (to mix spy action films) an impossible mission. She must cast a new lead in 22 hours. 

    Deborah is not alone in her (very) secret mission. Her Q is her son, Quinn (Harry Goodson-Bevan) and her M, is cousin Malcolm (Philip Bretherton). Yes, despite Bond's body count (both kills and bed notches), he is still very much a family enterprise. And Deborah and Malcolm want to keep it that way.

    What follows is a farcical romp that has a license to thrill. The dialogue is as pinpoint as Auric Goldfinger’s laser, and just as deadly. Full of puns, double entendras, and impressive phone choreography (think Operation Mincemeat, but with one angry American, three mobile phones, a landline and a Bluetooth headset), the production is seriously silly, and brilliantly British.

    A Role to Die For review: A farcical romp that has a license to thrill

    The gag rate is as rapid as an Aston Martin, and it really reaches top gear in the second act. Not to say that the first is slow, it just gets better and better. 

    Deborah, brilliantly played by Franks, is no Bond girl. She is foul-mouthed and fierce (“For a feminist you are a c***, FiFi”), yet incredibly likeable. She isn’t (just) in it for the money; she cares deeply about Bond and the film's reputation (“James Bond is vital, no matter what’s going on out there, he is there, ready to serve the King and country. He is reliable”). So when Malcom wants to use a 80s looking algorithm to choose the next Bond, and Quin wants to do the exact opposite of what market research dictates, we sympathise with her struggle. Well, as much as we can for a multi-millionaire nepo baby. 

    She knows that Bond has a chequered history, and that he must change if he wants to reach a younger audience (and not in the same way as “moonraper” tried to), but she’s frightened about losing the audience she already has. One thing’s for sure though, despite Gillian Anderson scoring a record-breaking 118 on the ‘Bond Appeal’ app, Bond is toxic, complicated, and annoying… “that’s what makes him a man!”

    A Role to Die For will have you shaken… with laughter.  

    A Role to Die For plays at the Marylebone Theatre until 30 August 2025.


    Sian McBride

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