Dear Diary - A Thriller Musical Review

Reviewed by Cathie for Theatre and Tonic.

*Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in return for an honest review

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There are several constants in most British lives, a cool pint at your local, a special cup for tea and a love for murder mysteries. Dear Diary: A Thriller Musical aims to supply a teenage murder mystery for the audience’s delectation. It is very similar in tone to 13 Reasons Why, Pretty Little Liars, A Good Girls Guide to Murder and Heathers. When this play starts, we are confronted with the following facts.  Kirsty is found dead in the drama studio at Baleham University and in response four of her supposed closest friends are put under the limelight and interrogated. The only evidence left on the scene is a gun and Kirsty’s diary is revealed through missing pages with some very revealing entries about the so called friends in her life.

The five characters are all deliciously obnoxious. Kirsty (Abigail Hebson) as the murder victim epitomized the classic popular girl archetype. She excels at university with a promising future ahead. All the boys vied for her attention, while the girls aspired to emulate her. However, tragedy strikes when her life is abruptly cut short under suspicious circumstances, prompting the police to seek answers. Among the suspects are her four closest friends and fellow classmates. Danny (Ryan J. Edwards), a rebellious bad boy, harboured lustful desires for Kirsty despite his tumultuous relationship with his jealous and spiteful girlfriend, Fiona (Chloë Smiter Easton), who was also part of their friendship circle. Isabela (Sofia Andolcetti), driven to excel academically, finds herself thwarted by Kirsty's presence, risking disappointment from her parents once again. Lastly, Stefanos (Adonis Kat), a devout Christian with a very troubled past, resents Kirsty's knowledge of his family's secrets. In this group, everyone seems very guilty, leaving both the police and the audience to unravel the truth behind that fateful evening. This cast worked together very well as a group and had fabulous chemistry throughout the show. They work hard to make their characters as nuanced as possible. I especially enjoyed the evidence package with information about the characters that I received as part of watching this show. This provided a brilliant layer to this performance for myself.

The show wastes no time diving into the action, a trait often lauded in thriller dramas. However, the initial lack of context surrounding the five 'friends' makes it challenging to connect with them right away. In a 'whodunnit' narrative, a bit of backstory is crucial for audience engagement. As the story unfolds, character dynamics gradually come into focus, reminiscent of the style seen in Pretty Little Liars, where a murder binds a group of friends in mystery. Adonis Kat's storyline, both written and directed, is intricately layered with numerous side stories and hidden connections among the characters. While this ambition is commendable, it often becomes overwhelming, as the abundance of side plots muddied the main narrative rather than propel it forward. Although this style works well for books and TV series, a more streamlined plot would suit the stage setting far more. I did enjoy the flash forwards and backwards to unfold the narrative as this certainly deepened the connections and provided stronger motives, but again this did get confusing at some points.

One element of this production I enjoyed most were the songs, all of which had very powerful chords, lyrics and definitely had a magnetic pull about them. ‘Forbidden Love’ as a duet was definitely a favourite with some amazing performances from Edwards and Hebson as they are excellent projecting their voices with nuanced emotion. The rest of the cast were also brilliant singers and I especially enjoyed the samples of ‘Raise a Little Hell’ and ‘Our Love is God’ as they worked brilliantly to showcase the characters. The background sound effects for the changes in set and in moments of tension were also brilliant but not always consistent in its decibels.

This was definitely a guilty pleasure style of musical and I did find it very entertaining. There is a lot of potential in this musical and I think with some fine tuning and tighter direction, it could become a powerhouse in the West End with the same teen dark comedy vibes as Heathers, Mean Girls or Cruel Intentions. I look forward to seeing this show in the future to see how it has matured, as it hopefully will next be seen at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

★ ★ ★