A Murder is Announced

The villagers of Chipping Cleghorn are agog with curiosity over an advertisement in the local paper which reads: ‘A murder is announced and will take place on Friday October 13th, at Little Paddocks at 6.30p.m.’ A childish practical joke or a hoax? Unable to resist the mysterious invitation, a crowd begins to gather at Little Paddocks when, at the appointed time, the lights go out and a gun is fired…. I’ll be honest… The plot alone had me bursting with excitement; its not often I get to see a good murder mystery on stage!

A Murder is Announced establishes Agatha Christies’s claim to the throne of murder mysteries with an ingenious plot, a skillfully written script that was very much brought to life with a first class cast and with excellent direction and delivery. All this along with a lavishly constructed set; it made for an outstanding piece of theatre.

Established actress Anita Warburton played the lady of the manor, Letitia Blacklock doing so with plenty of charm and warmth and as always did a super job in such a demanding role.

Marilyn Baxter showed her versatility yet again giving a great performance as ‘challenged’ Dora, an adorable character who came into her own with a lovely portrayal.

Patrick Simmons was played by talented Matthew Orillard. Matthew is such a natural young actor and always seems to underplay to commendable effect.

Lousia Herridge as Mitzi was just perfect in the role and brought so much comedy to whole production to the point where I was always looking forward to her next entrance.

Sara Worton played nosey neighbor Clara just brilliantly and her counterpart Kenneth McConnaghty did suitably well as Edward.

Pasty Roberts was the epitome of all things Marple giving an absolutely outstanding performance that was confident and consistent and such a pleasure to watch. Patsy’s comic timing is just perfect along with some wonderful facial expressions which added heaps of character to the role . Patsy is always a delightful addition to any cast.

Both Danielle Segar and Maria Dumencic had everyone fooled as characters Phillipa and Julia both giving confident portrayals whilst Inspector Craddock played by Michael Mullan did a fine job along with his sidekick Mal Wallace as Sgt Mellors.

Director Dan Grimes had every last detail taken care of in this production, which was very evident throughout. Each scene flowed with pace and the suspense built keeping everyone on the edge of their seats. A thoroughly entertaining evening - Congratulations to everyone involved.

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