A Murder Is Announced

There is nothing I enjoy more than a good thriller and having started my own amateur theatre career in an Agatha Christie classic, I was very much looking forward to finding out ‘whodunit’ in the latest production to be staged by Horsehay Amateur Dramatic Society.

Horsehay is a small Shropshire village, a stone’s throw from Telford and where the village hall plays a pivotal role in providing a wide range of activities and events for the local community and specialist groups, not least the dramatic society who stage three major plays there each year. So with my NODA hat on and notebook in hand and a very warm welcome, I took my seat for what promised to be a curiously interesting evening, especially when we were shortly going to see what happens when ‘A Murder Is Announced’!

Based on Agatha Christie’s 50th novel published in 1950 and considered to be her best, the play was adapted for the stage by Leslie Darbon and first produced at the Theatre Royal in Brighton before its west end premiere at the Vaudeville Theatre in London in 1977.

Picture if you will the elegant drawing room of ‘Little Paddocks’, an early Victorian House in  Chipping Cleghorn, a quaint little village deep in the heart of the English countryside. The house has long been the home of Miss Letitia Blacklock, one of only a handful of residents in this close-knit community where everyone knows everyone else. You can imagine then the shock when a notice in the personal column of the local gazette announces that there will be a murder in the village, on this day, in this house and at 6.30 p.m. this evening!

As her lodgers come into the room and other curious villagers arrive, including the infamous local sleuth Miss Marple, the only question on everybody’s mind is whether or not this is some form of silly prank, a serious threat to someone already in the house or maybe even an unexpected visitor yet to arrive? What follows is a classic Christie conundrum of concealed identities, misleading motives, a second death and a few red herrings thrown in for good measure which Inspector Craddock arrives to investigate. The fact that Miss Blacklock is shortly due to inherit a considerable sum of money adds a further motive to the murder investigation but despite all the twists and turns and much to the frustration of the determined inspector, Miss Marple is on hand to provide a final solution and uncover the true identity of the murderer.

As the introductory music played and the house lights dimmed, the stage curtains opened to allow us our first view of the most incredibly magnificent set. In perfect fifties vogue, it was difficult to imagine that I wasn’t watching the play in a professional theatre! As outlined in the original script, two drawing rooms had been made into one room with a small section of the loadbearing wall just right of centre at the back against which a writing desk had been placed. There was a single, never-to-be-opened door up right, a double door up left and a fireplace and mantelpiece on the left-hand wall. There was also a bay window in the right-hand wall. The whole set had been flawlessly decorated with an attractive pale green patterned wallpaper which cleverly matched the darker green colours of the doors, fireplace and carpet. The whole set had also been tastefully furnished and included a cream chaise longue, several other chairs of different styles dotted around the room and a host of tastefully framed pictures on all the walls. There were also several working lamps and a chandelier hanging just left of centre. A keen eye for detail with the props was also evident, particularly with the glasses and drinks.

As this play is a genuine thriller, I’m deliberately not going to give the game away and talk about the complexity and ingenuity of the actual plot to spoil it for future theatre viewing, but I must make mention of several of the remarkable group of actors who brought the play to life and who collectively kept us guessing whodunit right up to the final curtain.

As Letitia Blacklock, Shirley Gladwin gave an outstanding performance in this pivotal role with great style, poise and grace. She barely left the stage throughout the whole play and as the ‘lady of the manor’ displayed a calm exterior and was totally (and cleverly) in command of most of the situations, awkward and otherwise, as they arose.

Although a little quiet, Jane Parkyn excelled as Miss Marple and gave a very measured and thoughtful portrayal as the most indomitable and iconic of all Christie characters which also included the obligatory knitting. She  showed great skill in always being one step ahead of Inspector Craddock (Rob Fisher) who was perfectly cast as the frustrated and overstretched police officer and who gave another excellent and compelling performance.

In the role of Mitzi, the crazy and hot-tempered mid-European maid, Amanda Bowater was able to lighten the mood and change the tempo of the piece at every entrance. Her body language, frenetic outbursts and misunderstandings of the English language made for a very amusing and believable portrayal.

As Dora Bunner - ‘Bunny’ - Miss Blacklock’s aging and lifelong friend and companion and another resident of ‘Little Paddocks’, Carol Edwards also kept us amused with her eccentric and slightly dotty character in another wonderful and amusing portrayal.

There wasn’t one weak link in the hugely talented cast which also included Jennifer Edwards and Kieran Palin as Julia and Patrick Simmons, Miss Blacklock’s niece and nephew - Cath Fisher and Alexander Edwards as Clara and Edmund Swettenham, Miss Blacklock’s nosy neighbours - Janie Edwards as Phillipa Haymes, Andy Reed as Sergeant Mellors and Robin Cooper as Rudi Scherz.

The costumes were all perfectly in vogue for the fifties with appropriate styles and plenty of colour.

I did like the way that appropriately themed music was used to introduce each of the scenes prior to the house tabs opening although I did find the sound effects of the doorbell and chiming clock a little bit loud. The lighting too was perfectly adequate and well operated.

But, as always, my final comments must go to Director, Richard Astle, who had honed every fine detail of Leslie Darbon’s adaptation of Agatha Christie’s original story to perfection to keep the scenes flowing and the suspense continually building. He had carefully addressed the challenging relationships between the characters to provide some highly plausible moments which were both comical and relaxed and at other times emotionally charged and highly fraught! I must also congratulate Robin Cooper for the design and production of the truly outstanding set.

Thank you so much for inviting me to your latest production and for your warm welcome. I greatly look forward to making the relatively short journey from Stone to Horsehay to see you all again for another of my favourites - ‘The Lady Killers' - in March next year.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.