A Murder is Announced

“A Murder is Announced” written by Agatha Christie and adapted by Leslie Darbon is a play set in the Chipping Cleghorn home of Letitia Blackstock.  It tells of events following the announcement in the local paper that a murder will take place at 6.30 that evening.   It's classic Agatha Christie with twists and turns, witty writing and characters with concealed identities.  And of course there’s the murder, thus the title of the play.

The set was an excellent representation of two drawing rooms in an early Victorian house, decorated to a high standard. The props were good and well handled. There was good attention to detail in ensuring each character was appropriately dressed. A lot of thought had gone into the use of costume and hair to emphasise the personality and class of the characters.  The action was spread over several days necessitating appropriate changes of costume and this was done well. The lighting was effective and well controlled especially during the black-out scene. 

The essential characterisation of each cast member was sound. There were some strong performances, notably from Sarah Oliver as Letitia and Rebecca Wright had good energy and comic timing as Mitzi, the maid with attitude and a super accent.  Occasionally the pace slackened (due to one or two prompts)  but this did not spoil the audience’s enjoyment and there were enough red herrings and real clues to keep us all amused. 

Directed by Brian Gillett and Jill Gillett, this was a good interpretation of a complicated story and another success for Silchester Players

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