Vardy V Rooney: The Wagatha Christie Trial Review
Before we into the review of Vardy V Rooney: The Wagatha Christie review I have a little confession. I’m in the minority of people who did not keep up to date with this trial as it happened. My entire knowledge of the situation was “It’s… Rebecca Vardy’s account” and Rebecca Vardy not knowing who Davy Jones is. Not exactly enough to truly know what I was walking into seeing Vardy V Rooney: The Wagatha Christie Trial. But I think it’s actually allowed me a different viewpoint on the show.
Let’s take it back to 2019 when Coleen Rooney posted an explosive expose across her social media. Someone from her inner circle had been leaking private stories about her and her family to The Sun newspaper. The stories were coming from her private Instagram, so she began a secret investigate to catch the culprit. She shared false stories and limited who could see them until there was only one account left. And with that came the revelation and the iconic line “It’s… Rebecca Vardy’s account.”
Rebecca Vardy responded by launching libel action against Rooney which led to the trial. With both ladies being married to football players, the court proceeding played out like a football match. Nathan McMullen and Halema Hussain play the pundits who intervene at times to explain some law terms and throw out the puns. Nathan was a standout for me when he additionally took on the roles of Wayne Rooney and Jamie Vardy.
Act One covers the interrogation of Rebecca Vardy played by Lucy May Barker. The evidence in the trial included messages between Rebecca and her previous agent Caroline Watt (Hussain). Lucy would switch from straight petulance on the stand to full of life and cattily voicing her WhatsApp messages. It was seamless how she would switch between the two emotions and interaction styles. And hearing the conversations between them I’m truly shocked Rebecca took this to court because it made her sound worse.
The second act sees the turn of Coleen in the hot seat as they pick apart her side of things. The laughs are subdued in this half as Laura Dos Santos portrays a heartbroken Coleen. She shows the hurt she felt being betrayed by someone she allowed into her inner circle. Her testimony makes you think about the concept of privacy, celebrity and the impact social media has. Just because someone is in the public eye doesn’t make them fair game for stories and loss of privacy.
This play definitely gets you thinking whilst also keeping you laughing in the right moments. I enjoyed the show, but I do question how much someone who followed the trial at the time would feel. With verbatim transcripts you might already know the story as it played out. But it’s an interesting watch and the cast really made the show come alive. Vardy V Rooney: The Wagatha Christie Trial is on a limited run at The Ambassadors Theatre until 20 May.
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Photo Credit: Pamela Raith
