Review: Death Belles (The Hope Theatre)

Death Belles is a show that I'd made a note to go and see before I was invited to review it, after reading this description: Death Belles is a gripping quartet of darkly lyrical monologues exploring guilt, secrecy, power and vengeance - stories that are intimate in scale but epic in emotional consequence. As someone who enjoys short stories and flash fiction this instantly appealed to me.

Written by Annie Power and directed by Penny Gkritzapi, each of the four monologues was performed by a different actor in turn, relating a story with a dark side.

The performance space in the Hope Theatre was set beautifully (by Constance Comparot) with petals all over the floor. There was seating on 3 sides of the performance area, which made it feel more of an intimate setting. Towards the back of the stage were vases of flowers, with small vials next to them. The significance of these became more obvious as the evening progressed.

Production photo

All That Remains was the first monologue, as Poppy (Niamh O’Donnell) described how her life changed during a storm. Having visited Dunnottar Castle on a stormy day in 2024 my mental images of the landscape in the Highlands were vivid as I listened to what Poppy was saying, and this piece was nicely rounded off with an ending reminiscent of many a folk song.

At the end of this piece, some red dye was tipped from a vial into the vase of poppies at the back of the stage. The use of these vases of flowers as a link between the stories, not only because of each of the characters’ names but also their regular use in funeral arrangements was a brilliant nod to the dark writing we were being presented with.

The second story, Faulty, involved Lily discussing the events of her sixteenth birthday. George Bird convincingly played this sporty teenager, questioning her family history and resentful when it appears the plans for her birthday celebrations are about to be ruined.

The Prophecy was narrated by Rose (Harriet Main), a detective talking about a series of brutal child murders. I had the completely coincidental bonus during this piece that Rose appeared to be looking in my direction for quite an extended period and this added another level of intensity to the delivery of this monologue for me.

Finally, Threshold had Finella Waddilove speaking to the audience members as if they were familiar faces in a regular meeting at a village hall, complete with harsh lighting to set the scene. Having experienced the loss of her five year old daughter during the Covid pandemic, the trauma Bella has experienced is apparent in what she says and does during this piece.

The lighting design (Amy Horsley) helped to set the scene for each monologue – blue hues for All That Remains, for example, giving a sense of how chilled through Poppy was during the storm she described.

Production photo

There are many things that the four monologues have in common.  The writing is exquisite and each of the performances were strong, convincing and engaging.  Equally, the four stories are completely unique, and each could stand as an impressive piece of writing in its own right.

This is a show that will appeal to people who enjoy suspense filled narratives, short form writing where every word has to count, and stories of the hidden dark sides of people who could be walking around next to you every day.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

If you would like to see my curtain call photographs from this and other shows, please visit my Instagram.

I was gifted a ticket for this show in exchange for an honest review.