SINGLE WHITE FEMALE comes to Milton Keynes Theatre this week, running from Tue 21 – Sat 25 April.

The stage version of the well-known 90s psychological thriller arrived in Milton Keynes, starring Kym Marsh and Lisa Faulkner (last night, the latter being understudied by Anna Ruben).

I haven’t seen the film, so I came to this completely fresh.

We meet Allie, who has recently gone through a divorce and is balancing single motherhood with the launch of a tech start-up. To alleviate some financial strain, she decides to take in a lodger, and Hedy seems to be the perfect fit. However, as their bond deepens, the boundaries begin to fade, and what begins as a beneficial arrangement gradually shifts into something more sinister.

From the moment you walk in, you’re placed in a high-rise apartment. The design is striking, clean, angular, with flashes of red lighting cutting through a softer palette. It made me pause and wonder what it was hinting at, which felt intentional.

The production takes its time introducing each character, giving us just enough backstory before Hedy inserts herself into their lives. What follows is a slow and deliberate shift. She chips away at Allie in subtle ways, undermining her to her face and twisting things behind her back, whilst presenting herself as thoughtful and supportive. It’s unsettling to watch, but also oddly compelling, especially hearing the audience react in real time.

Her relationship with the daughter is particularly uncomfortable. She blurs the line between adult and friend, quietly challenging the mother’s authority with little gestures and shared secrets that feel harmless at first but clearly aren’t.

Each scene ends with a burst of music that feels jarring. It doesn’t quite land, but you sense it’s meant to build toward something.

By the end of the first act, the tension has really taken hold. I was totally engaged, completely drawn in, and just wanted to continue to the conclusion.

Kym Marsh is a great actor and very watchable, Amy Snudden was excellent, and much of the cast held things together well, even if some emotional beats didn’t always feel entirely believable, and one character leans a bit too heavily into cliché.

Then the second half begins, and something shifts — quite dramatically! What had been carefully built suddenly unravels. In my opinion, as well as the opinions of many others I spoke with afterwards, the tone tips over, performances lose their footing, and it all becomes unintentionally hilarious as performances go completely over the top, fight scenes are ridiculous, and acting is poor. The row I was in was trying (and failing) to hold it together as laughter spread. What on earth happened?  We all couldn’t quite believe it!

It’s frustrating because the setup promises so much. But by the end, you’re left wondering how something so controlled in the first half could go so completely off track. As they say in football – ‘It was a game of two halves!’

Maybe it was just a fluke, who knows. But we all came away bewildered.

Tickets can be purchase at www.ATGTICKETS.COM/MiltonKeynes