A Murder is Announced

Mystery, intrigue, drama and excitement are just a few words I would use to describe the superb performance provided by Whitby Amateur Dramatics. Who doesn’t love a who dunnit? Filled with lots of puzzles and hidden clues and of course a fabulous performances by each and everyone of the twelve talented indivduals on the stage.

Agatha Christie books are arguably one of the most popular detective stories out there to date and the fact they have been turned into such scintillating plays only reinforces that. Its always part of the fun of seeing murder mysteries in the theatre is to try and play detective yourself and work out who the culprit is before the end and I have to admit this cast fooled me with their performances, and by the end I was sat on the edge of my seat waiting to find out what the conclusion was. I do have to quietly admit though I got it wrong.

This show was produced by the exceptionally talented Alison Steele who not only put this fabulous show together but also stepped in at the last minute as Letitia Blacklock and gave a wonderful performance. Fiona Price and Chris Colebrooke, portraying Julia and Patrick Simmons, worked exceptionally well throughout the show fooling us all with their impeccable performances that would make you think they were born in the era. No nurder mystery is complete without a super sleuth and in this show you had the wonderful pairing of Rosemary Osborne as Miss Marple and Ian Dobson as Inspector Craddock accompanied by Jon Risdon as Sergent Mellers. They kept the audience straight with all the theories and clues that one needs to solve such an intriguing mystery. In any story you need an air of misconception and confusion and Penny Cullen playing Mrs Swettenham and Chris Wales playing Edward Swettenham added a late twist to the plot and had me convinced I’d solved the puzzle. Shame I believed their deception. The role of our story’s victim Rudi Scherz was played by John Ogden and although this was a small role Ogden made an impact. The role of seemingly innocent Phillipa Haymes was portrayed by Suzie James, who was so likeable it was hard to picture her as a suspect, but sometimes you could not argue with the evidence. Although no one is under suspicion in a show like this. I have to say the wonderfully comical moments performed by Georgie Joyce as Mitzi were fabulous. She had been in fits of giggle at many points through the show and her over the top characterisation only helped show her true talent. Last but by no means least was the exceptional performance provided by Jo Downie as Dora Bunner (Bunny), whose hapless and forgetful nature was so endearing, and she performed this part with such professionalism that she would be at home on a professional stage.

I was so impressed with this small yet talented cast that I will certainly be keeping an eye out for their next performance. The show was skilfully done with simple and complicated elements working together seamlessly and the sometimes-difficult misconceptions being played out to perfect results. Thanks to this fabulous group I shall definitely be looking out for more murder mysteries to watch.

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