Dan Brown’s best-selling book was never a book for divulging its secrets lightly. Indeed, that was, and still is, a substantial part of its appeal. Readers have their work cut out for them, and the fun they get when/if they get to the end is a bit like finishing a fair but diabolical crossword.

Bringing his convolutions to the stage was always going to be an ambitious project in itself, not least because of the massive footprint left by Ron Howard’s 2006 film version starring Tom Hanks as symbologist Robert Langdon. No wonder Luke Sheppard’s touring production employed two people for the adaptation task.
To stay with the puzzle analogy, the challenge here was comparable to turning a crossword puzzle into a three-dimensional affair. Thus, in this hectic version lasting two hours, the scene does indeed take on the air of a cube in which all sorts of more distant and indeterminate dimensions claim to enter.

As a result, the theatrical experience is surprisingly more racy and thrilling than the film. This can sometimes have the effect of over-compressing what might be called the code set of certain sections, or even that of the demanding role played by the Fibonacci sequence, in which each number is the sum of the two preceding it, and the so-called golden ratio occurs. At the same time, such an approach has the advantage of guiding you through the potentially time-consuming study of alternative religious history.

In a script that revels in presenting the implausible as nothing quite like it, its adapters Duncan Abel and Rachel Wagstaff have pulled off their own little miracle by keeping the relationships between the protagonists vital and vibrant. There’s a welcome stylistic consistency in their treatment of key episodes, from the murder at the Louvre to the clash between Opus Dei and the Priory of Sion over whether Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene had a child together. .

Christopher Harper is an admirable Robert Langdon, the academic symbolist at the heart of the quest, mostly cool and collected in line with more conventional detectives; Hannah Rose Caron, a graduate of the Juilliard and BRIT theater schools, is dynamic like her fellow cryptologist Sophie Neven. In a cast full of fierce commitment to the story’s otherworldly realism, Joshua Lacey is exceptional, and downright terrifying, as fanatical monk Silas.

In a show that deals so explicitly with imagery and perception, Andrzej Goulding’s video projections and David Woodhead’s ever-changing set are key players in making you wonder where it will all end. Even if you already knew it, or thought you did.

Review by Alan Franks

Based on the best-selling novel of this century, with over 100 million copies sold, unlock the secrets of The Da Vinci Code in the first stage adaptation of the international phenomenon and uncover the truth in the greatest thriller of the past 2000 years.

The curator of the Louvre was brutally murdered, and next to his body lies a series of puzzling codes. Follow the thrilling journey of Professor Robert Langdon and fellow cryptologist Sophie Neveu (Hannah Rose Canton) as they attempt to solve the puzzles leading to the works of Leonardo da Vinci and beyond, deep within the vault of history. With the guidance of teacher and friend Sir Leigh Teabing, Langdon and Neveu embark on a breathless race through the streets of Europe. The couple must crack the labyrinthine code before a shocking historical secret is lost forever.

The Da Vinci Code is at the Richmond Theater from Tuesday, May 3, 2022 through Saturday, May 7, 2022.

Book tickets for events at the Richmond Theater

May 9 – 14
New Victoria Theatre, Woking
Ticket office: 0844 871 7645

May 16 – 21
Curve Theatre, Leicester
Ticket office: 0116 242 3595
www.curveonline.co.uk

May 23 – 28
Norwich Theater Royal
Ticket office: 01603 630 000
www.theatreroyalnorwich.co.uk

June 6 – 11
Shrewsbury Severn Theater
Ticket office: 01743 281281
www.theatresevern.co.uk

June 13 – 18
Orchard Theatre, Dartford
Ticket office: 01322 220000
www.orchardtheatre.co.uk

June 20 – 25
Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham
Ticket office: 0844 871 3011

June 28 – July 2
New Theatre, Cardiff
Ticket office: 029 2087 8889
www.newtheatrecardiff.co.uk

July 4 -9
Royal & Derngate, Northampton
Ticket office: 01604 624811
www.royalanderngate.co.uk

July 18 – 23
Her Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen
Ticket office: 01224 641122
www.aberdeenperformingarts.com

July 25 – 30
The Lowry, Salford
Ticket office: 0343 208 6000
www.thelowry.com

August 29 – September 3
Milton Keynes Theater
Ticket office: 0844 871 7652

September 12 – 17
Malvern Theater
Ticket office: 01684 892277
www.malvern-theatres.co.uk

September 19 – 24
Grand Opera, Belfast
Ticket office: 028 9024 1919
www.goh.co.uk

September 26 – October 1
Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford
Ticket office: 01483 440 000
www.yvonne-arnaud.co.uk

More dates to come