Kym Marsh and Lisa Faulkner star in the world-premiere stage adaptation of 90s thriller Single White Female at Cambridge Arts Theatre (10-14 March 2026) Preview by Angela Singer and Anne Shooter
It sounds like Fatal Attraction meets the twelve plagues of Egypt. There is certainly a lot of smiting going on.
Single White Female, the thriller at Cambridge Arts Theatre, which opens on Tuesday, March 10, has been adapted from the 1992 film where a deranged woman menaces a “seeks same” who has advertised for someone to share her home. The lodger starts by wearing the same clothes as her host and then begins to impersonate her and distort her life.
As it happens, Kym Marsh who is playing Hedy the lodger from Hell, has also played Bunny Boiler Alex Forrest on stage. In Single White Female, Hedy goes further than attacking a rabbit. The end of the play is not far off the last scene in Hamlet. Sounds like terrific fun for the cast.
Kym (Coronational Street and Waterloo Road) said: “After I played Alex Forrest in the stage version of Fatal Attraction, we talked about other projects there might be, and we came up with Single White Female because it had never been done before.”
“It is in that genre of epic, classic films that had a real impact on people at that time. Without giving too much away to anyone who has not seen the film, the character is very complex, and, from an acting point of view, it gives me an opportunity to explore so many unusual places that you do not go to normally.
The stage version has been updated by author, journalist and broadcaster, Rebecca Reid, with a focus on social media, playing on the themes of ambition, identity, and isolation.
Kym says the advent of social media makes the story even more relevant. “There obviously wasn’t social media back in the 90s,” she says. “But if you know the essence of the plot and what it is about, it works very well because we see people trying to imitate people’s lives online all the time.
Lisa Faulkner, (Brookside, Holby City, Spooks) who plays Allison the single mother who place the ad, was also drawn to the character of a struggling, newly divorced mum, trying to start a tech business, who takes in a lodger, to make ends meet.
“I remember going to see the film when I was much younger, in the early nineties, and I remember thinking it was brilliant. So, it was exciting to see how they have adapted it for stage and how it was going to work.”
“I know about how it feels to be a mum with a teenage daughter, juggling everything and trying to keep all the balls in the air – and all the guilt that goes with it. So that made me think it would be really interesting to play this part.
How does she think audiences will relate to her character and a stage adaptation of a film that was a hit more than 30 years ago?
She says: “I actually think people will relate to many parts of the story. We are all human and we can all be a bit naive or foolish at various times in our lives. “
Single White Female will be at Cambridge Arts Theatre from March 10 to 14 and the tour also takes in Peterborough New Theatre April 7-11 and Milton Keynes Theatre from April 21 to 25. Cambridge Arts Theatre tickets from 01223 503333 or www.artstheatre.co.uk Age guidance 15+ Also see: www.swfonstage.com
