A Murder is Announced

It’s Friday 13th October, 1951 — an ordinary day in the quiet village of Chipping Cleghorn… until the local paper drops a bombshell that sends teacups rattling and curtains twitching. A murder — yes, a murder — is scheduled to take place that very evening at the home of Miss Letitia Blacklock. Naturally, a couple of the villagers flock to the scene like moths to a scandalous flame. As Miss Blacklock, her lodgers, and curious onlookers gather, the tension crackles. Is it a prank? A publicity stunt? A joke in very poor taste? Alas, no. The victim turns out to be an unexpected intruder, and suddenly the genteel drawing room becomes the epicentre of a full‑blown murder investigation. Enter Inspector Craddock, determined, intelligent, and just a touch exasperated — especially when the ever‑observant Miss Marple glides in, quietly solving the case three steps ahead of him. With inheritances at stake and motives lurking in every corner, the truth requires a daring strategy to uncover the identity of the murderer in a classic Agatha Christie way.

Julia Simmons (played by Tara Pathirana), Letitia’s “niece”, was quick-witted and easily kept up the pretence of who everybody thought she was. Her chemistry with Patrick was very good.

Letitia Blacklock (Samantha Sharma), was elegant and sophisticated throughout the play, oozing the charisma of a lady of polite society.

Dora “Bunny” Bunner (Alex Tsang) was delightfully dotty and cheerful, even when people forgot to buy her a birthday present, and those that did not forget, chose handkerchiefs.

Patrick Simmons (Henry Esdon), Letitia’s nephew, was full of vim and vigour, forever teasing Julia with whom he was in love with. Flamboyant without being over exuberant.

Mitzi (Pauline Gruner), the cook (and bucket-washer) stole every scene she was in. Although her “Slavonic” accent slipped into one that was more Jewish at times her comic timing was spot-on. Her entrance announcements were hilarious – thank you, you’re welcome.

Jane Marple (Shirley Jones). This role has been played by so many distinguished actors but Shirley played it her own way. Demure, calculating (in a nice way), and not in any way over-bearing.

Phillipa Haymes (Heather Olcot) was quiet and reserved, never bringing attention to herself: for good reason as the plot played out. An accomplished performance in under-statement.

Clara Swettenham (Annette Probert) the nosy neighbour and local gossip was well played as was Edmund Swettenham (Kal Wells) although there did not seem to be a strong mother/son relationship.

Rudi Scherz (Ben Johnson) gave a brief but atmospheric cameo, mostly in darkness until his untimely end.

Inspector Craddock (David Mills) was very good as he went about trying to solve the murder. David’s characterization of an intelligent, amiable but forceful, detective was a joy to watch.

Sergeant Mellors (Paul Boylan) ably supported the Inspector.

The direction of the play by Jenny Tygrys ensured that the acting moved at a good pace with excellent use of the stage. Well-rehearsed as this play requires several duologues and the prompt was only required once.

Although most of the cast gave good voice projections there were a couple of actors that could have delivered their lines with more volume (or used a microphone) as I doubt that their voices would have carried clearly to the back row.

The set was well constructed although the stage left door seemed to have a mind of its own causing mild amusement amongst the audience. I was disappointed that there wasn’t a key to lock/unlock the doors as was mentioned in the script. A single stack of books DSL would have looked better than the double stack that looked awkwardly balanced. Kudos must go to Letitia for her ad-lib when the picture fell off the wall. I also felt that the curtain pole was too new for the period. However, the furniture used was excellent, as were the accessories used to dress the tables etc. and magazines to read that looked of the period. It was good to see that “actual” tea was poured - but no milk from the jug? The photo album used had a lot of colour photographs in it. These should have been black and white as most would have been taken in the 1930’s/40’s, long before colour photography became commercially available. An annoying distraction throughout was the revolving glitterball high above the set that had nothing to do with the play.

Costumes were mostly compatible with the period. Ladies needed to check the seams on their hosiery, especially at the ankles. The inspector’s costume was completely wrong though. It should have been a double-breasted suit in dark grey, charcoal or navy blue, with a dark tie and certainly not bright red braces. He would have worn a trilby hat. The sergeant’s tunic lacked the triple chevrons of rank on both sleeves. Several of the actor’s noticed that their shoes gave a loud “clomp” as they walked around – something was needed to deaden the sound.

The lighting was generally very good but there was a dark area DSR which was noticed by the actor required to be there and she stepped back so she could be seen better. Some scene transitions needed a longer underscore to cover them to avoid the “pregnant pauses”.

Despite these notes, this was a thoroughly enjoyable production — rich, spirited, and full of promise. Consider this review as constructive suggestions for further triumphs. Here’s to the next forty years, and many more mysteries solved.

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