A Murder is Announced

What better on a dark autumn evening than a good old Agatha Christie murder mystery? This adaptation of Christie’s A Murder is Announced by Leslie Darbon fitted the bill perfectly. When a newspaper advert announces that a murder will take place at Miss Blacklock’s house at 6.30pm on Friday 13th October, great interest is aroused in the village – who will be killed, and who will do it? As usual, no one is who they appear to be, everyone has a motive, and it is up to Miss Marple to guide the police to the right conclusion.

We were greeted with the most splendid box set I’ve seen outside of professional theatre. The living room in Miss Blacklock’s home was obviously two rooms joined together, as required by the plot, and beautifully furnished to suit the 1950s setting of the story. Huge credit to designer Robert Sheppard and ‘The Bodgers’ who built it. Costumes all felt of the right period too – even down to the shoes, which can be the hardest part to source - thanks to Anne Humphries and Lesley Redstone. Only the men’s suits jarred slightly, looking too modern. Lighting and sound effects (Giles Collard and Michael Finch of The Green A Team) completed the sumptuous picture.

Director Phill Humphries has picked a strong cast who have all worked well on their characters and period mannerisms. The murder scene in particular was well executed, by torchlight, proceeding exactly as the story dictated.

Jane Waddington excelled as Miss Blacklock, owner of the house and seemingly horrified by a murder taking place. Carol Tubbs delighted as Dora Bunner, with just the right amount of dotty forgetfulness, while Em Sefton-Smith and George Pinhorn were convincing as brother and sister (supposedly) Julia and Patrick. Sam Austin was superb as the eccentric maid Mitzi, full of character, making herself a suspect but never quite going over the top. Penny Young could have a career ahead of her portraying Miss Marple: every inch the fluffy granny with a mind as sharp as a bacon slicer, and more than a hint of Joan Hickson. Ben Gander was convincing as Inspector Craddock, his initial sternness giving way as he grudgingly accepted help from Miss Marple.

The cast was completed by Karla Welch as gardener Phillipa Haymes, Matthew Bell and Siobhain McCurrach as the up-tight but nosey Swettenhams (I loved Mitzi’s introductions of them!), Wayne Pinhorn as Sergeant Mellors and a very brief appearance of Kieran Bell as (the dead body) Rudi Scherz.

Acting throughout was excellent with no fluffs or missed cues and, despite the lack of microphones, all could be heard easily, although one or two might improve their projection a little. The informative programme was cleverly presented in newspaper format.

I love Agatha Christie’s works but find that I never remember ‘whodunnit’, and that was the case this time, despite having read the book and seen the TV adaptations. Of course, that adds to the fun of the evening, trying to pick out the clues and ignore the red herrings. Judging by the enthusiastic applause from the packed auditorium, we all had a great evening, exercising our little grey cells. Well done to everyone involved.

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