REVIEW | VARDY V ROONEY: THE WAGATHA CHRISTIE TRIAL, The Ambassadors Theatre
Photo: Pamela Raith★ ★ ★
Reviewer - Bronagh
*Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in return for an honest review.
There are many pop culture moments which will live rent free in our heads… from ‘What a sad little life, Jane’, to ‘I’m claustrophobic Darren’, to Nikki Grahame’s ‘who is she?’ speech to Coleen Rooney’s ‘it’s...... Rebekah Vardy’s account’ post. The rise of social media, TikTok and the like means these moments are immortalised forever; in Coleen’s case, her post has been made into a West End show.
Wagatha Christie is a verbatim production, dramatizing the libel case between Rebekah Vardy and Coleen Rooney. Rooney famously had her very own Mousetrap (Scousetrap?) moment, however, instead of assembling the household she took to her social media accounts. Hours of court transcripts have been analysed – the court trial lasted for seven days – and adapted into an amusing ninety-minute show, not without its shocks.
The show plays out over a football pitch, with a marble courtroom backdrop. Halema Hussain and Nathan McMullen play pundits, who commentate the court case and give their own opinions, weaving football culture throughout the show. Football references come thick and fast, prompting many laughs and cheers of approval. Hussain also jumps on to play Vardy’s former friend, who helps to leak the stories, Caroline Watt. McMullen plays Jamie Vardy and Wayne Rooney, whose accents and mannerisms are spot on.
Lucy May Barker and Laura Dos Santos are Rebekah Vardy and Coleen Rooney respectively. There is no denying that the performances of the WAGs are done with authenticity and the right amount of drama. The audience cringes as Vardy and Watt’s Whatsapp exchanges are read out loud, and we laugh along at Coleen’s short remarks in the courtroom. Barker captures Vardy’s petulance, and comes to life when the, at times outrageous, Whatsapp messages are read out. Jonnie Broadbent and Tom Turner play Vardy and Rooney’s legal representation, cross-examining with precision and tact. Each time they have a victory in the courtroom, there is a celebration that would not be out of place on a football pitch.
No matter who you think was the ‘winner’ in all of this, if we strip Wagatha Christie down to the bare bones, it is rather shocking. Vardy was extremely sneaky in leaking stories to Watt who in turn leaked them to the national press. We hear – verbatim, remember – that Vardy was going to message Rooney about her deceased sister as a way to worm her way back in. On the flip side, should Rooney have made her public announcement about Vardy without contacting her privately first? We cannot deny that her detective skills were brilliant, but did it have to be so public? Rooney herself said that the ludicrous amount of money spent on the libel trial could have been better spent elsewhere.
Overall I found Wagatha Christie to be entertaining and easy to watch. It remains true to the real-life events and brings the courtroom dramas, and two well-known UK WAGs, to life. If your interest was piqued by this case, I recommend booking tickets to get the lowdown in less than two hours!
At The Ambassadors Theatre until 20 May.
