Cracking conspiracy is a whole lot of fun
The Da Vinci Code (touring)
Verdict: Blinded me with science ★★★II
CoNFESSIoN time. I was a Da Vinci Code virgin, having believed the New Yorker’s description of Dan Brown’s historical conspiracy potboiler as ‘unmitigated junk’ (it sold 80 million copies) and the subsequent movie as ‘baloney’ (it grossed $600 million).
I am also proof that no prior knowledge of this foray into the secret of the Holy Grail, so sensational that it could (and did) rock the foundations of Christianity, is necessary to enjoy its stage premiere. Albeit on its own singular terms.
Rachel Wagstaff and Duncan Abel’s adaptation begins with the discovery in the Louvre of the museum’s curator, a star carved into his chest by a self-flagellating opus Dei monk.
‘There are multiple meanings behind this,’ exclaims a bright spark.
But what are they? The Parisian police are on the case. As is ex-EastEnder heart-throb Nigel Harman, playing nerdy Robert, Harvard symbologist, chief murder suspect and walking, talking Wikipedia. And a less wooden Hannah Rose Caton as Sophie, granddaughter of the corpse, therefore personally and more emotionally engaged in the chase, in addition to being a cryptographer with a flair for cracking anagrams, reading mirror-writing and decoding the Mona Lisa’s smile.
The rest of the characters are one-dimensional ciphers, existing to present one perplexing puzzle after another baffling brainteaser, in what amounts to a breathless stream of slick and spectacular reveals.
With these all coming so fast and fabulous, there is no time to question the plot’s preposterousness, worry about the significance of the image of Leonardo Da Vinci’s Vitruvian man or keep up with the Fibonacci sequence.
Andrzej Goulding’s dazzling video projections expertly conjure cool gallery, echoing chapel, eerie crypt, claustrophobic bank vault, swanky airplane and fancy library of the eccentric Grail expert, Sir Leigh Teabing. or is he an anagram?
And who are the ever-present creepy hooded figures seated on the stage? Spooks? Spies? Who knows? Who cares? Not me, but it’s a ripping, gripping ride.
For tour dates visit davincicodeonstage.com