There’s something deliciously unsettling about walking into a theatre and finding yourself staring at a stark white room, knowing you’re about to watch a psychological game unfold. The Nightmare Room, a contemporary thriller inspired by Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic chiller, leans into that tension from the very first moment — and never really lets you go.

This two‑woman production, presented by Tabs Productions in association with Theatre Royal Nottingham’s Classic Thriller Season 2026, thrives on twists, secrets, and shifting power dynamics. We meet Helen (Corinne Begluk) as she comes to, blindfolded and tied to a chair, only to discover that her captor is her closest friend, Catherine (Sarah Wynne Kordas). What follows is a Russian‑roulette‑style battle of wills, where poison, betrayal, and long‑buried resentments bubble to the surface.

The single‑set staging is one of the production’s strongest assets. The clinical white room becomes a pressure cooker, its stillness broken only by sharp blackouts and clever lighting shifts that whisk us into the past. Present‑day scenes are bathed in harsh white light with no soundscape, heightening the claustrophobia, while flashbacks soften into warm yellows, projected windows, and gentle ambient noise. It’s simple but genuinely effective storytelling design.

Both performers commit fully to the emotional and physical demands of the piece. Their relationship feels genuine, and even the brief moment of stage combat lands with a realism that avoids the awkwardness these scenes sometimes fall into. One of the most impressive elements is how seamlessly the pair switch between past and present — a split‑second blackout, a shift in posture or tone, and suddenly we’re years earlier.

If anything lingers a touch too long, it’s the Rumpelstiltskin scene, which feels more like a writing indulgence than a performance issue. But it’s a small quibble in an otherwise gripping evening.

The Nightmare Room delivers exactly what it promises: a tense, twisty thriller that keeps you leaning forward, eager to see which woman will outplay the other.

Reviewed by Alexa Gardner.

Four Stars.

https://theatreroyalwindsor.co.uk/nightmare-26/