Guilty was utterly unnerving, but I promise I mean that in a good way.
I didn’t know what to expect from the two-woman comedy-thriller, written by Rona Munro, as I sat down in the almost-full lecture hall in the Anatomy Rooms in Marischal College.
But the show was so engrossing, hilarious (at all the right moments), and frankly, it left me pretty stunned.
I’ll admit, I thought I had it all figured out at one point, but not quite… because it really isn’t predictable.
Produced by Ten Feet Tall for the return of Granite Noir, the story takes place in a police interview room in Aberdeen.
But in less than an hour, the plot unravels and the chilling conversation between Sergeant Black and the eccentric Blanca during the “routine questioning” escalates.
It turns out to be anything but routine, and there are plenty of twists in the short time-frame to keep crime fans on their toes.
And I loved how their stories unfolded throughout the dialogue.
Convincing cast and simple set made Guilty all the more chilling
Without giving too much away, the set consisted of everything you’d typically expect in a windowless police interview room — a table, chairs, a CCTV camera, and a low-hanging lamp.
It was simple, yet cleverly arranged and very effective, with the audience feeling like they really were privy to an actual police interview.
The costumes were both believable and outlandish at the same time, and I just couldn’t tear my eyes away from the characters.
Inverurie’s Lucy Beth played Blanca, and she brought such a unique energy to the set, as well as plenty of Doric. She had the audience laughing heartily one minute and in complete suspense the next.
Meanwhile, Francesca Hess portrayed Sergeant Black, and I enjoyed how her story unfolded over the 55 or so minutes. While her character was so different to Beth’s, they bounced off each other so well.
I felt as though I was hanging off their every word trying to unweave the tangled web. At times, the room felt so tense you could have heard a pin drop during the moments neither of the characters were talking.
It can be quite hard to balance comedy with thrills and suspense, but I think this is a superb example of it being done well.
While there were some very funny moments, it was still a dark tale filled with suspense.
In a way, it almost made the show that bit more chilling.
Guilty is running until Saturday, with limited tickets left for the Friday performance. You can find the tickets here.
You can find out more about Granite Noir 2025 here.
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