A Tomb With A View

An entertaining murder mystery play A Tomb With A View by Norman Robbins was performed by Grantham Dramatic Society at the Grantham Arts Centre. I thoroughly enjoyed the show, which had an intricate plot, many red herrings, and plot twists, along with crazy characters and a spooky house, this cheerfully ludicrous play was staged with considerable craft.

This comedy whodunnit features a gathering for the reading of the will of Septimus Tomb, patriarch of a family of oddly-assorted and often homicidal characters. Soon the bodies start piling up!  Set in a sinister old library, presided over by a portrait of a grim faced, mad eyed old man. A dusty lawyer reads a will, involving some millions of pounds, to an equally sinister family. One member has werewolf tendencies, another wanders around in a toga like Julius Caesar and a third member is a genteel lady who plants more than seeds in her flower beds. Their crazed scientist older brother and their food obsessed sister plus a divine diva, complete the family. By the third act, there are more corpses than live members left in the cast; and what about the sympathetic nurse and the author of romantic novels and her friend, all of whom have the audience guessing. All is revealed as the plot twists and turns to its surprising conclusion.

Joy Wilson’s direction embraces the excesses and absurdity of the plot rather than shying away from them, which was definitely the way to go. A good director will be supportive and professional even at times of great stress and hearing two actors had contracted Covid must have been one of those times. Yet she pulled it together in under 12 hours, well done. A tightly constructed piece, making good use of one set, which worked both as a comedy and just about, as a murder mystery, although the plot is undoubtedly ridiculous and does not bear too much examination.  There was the odd fluff and some imprecision, I felt the pacing, particularly early on, was off, but overall there is a clever momentum to the production. The last act, when the constant series of murders has made the stage considerably less crowded, is particularly well done. The set walls were a glorious Spanish purple-y brown, run down furniture and functioning secret passage, complete with imposing portrait, excellent. Set design and build by Martin Brewin and Tom McKay.

A collection of peculiarly over-the-top characters which the cast attacked with some gusto. Gemma Dove’s Emily Tomb, constantly munching on an implausible series of food, lacked some depth, but over all successful. Deborah Harts’s Monica Tomb, whose appetites are directed more towards men, was suitably larger than life. Freda Mountjoy, played by Nicki McKay was appropriately conniving and with many subtle looks and asides with Perry Potter.  Paul Dexter played Perry with amazing energy which filled the stage, his was the most believable character and I commend him for his vigour.

Anne Franklin the nurse engaged by the Tomb family to care for Marcus was played with some success by Briony Sparrow.  Particularly in the final ‘reveal’ scene, Briony was enthralling as the conniving and sinister plotter. Yet I wonder if earlier in the play she might have played a more gentle and shy Anne to create a bigger contrast in the character. Gus Sparrow’s Marcus, whose dialogue is all Shakespearean due to his belief he is Julius Caesar is another performer that was more caricature than character. His mad gurning and eye rolling had us giggling but I felt almost relieved when he is finally murdered.

To make things tricky there was the Covid-shaped hole in the cast, which had been filled by Helen Pack as Dora and John Foulkes-Jones a Lucien, both actors came on board at lunch time the day they performed. The compelling characters, a mad scientist Lucien and the distracted, accidental mass poisoner, Dora, were excellent. Projection of both voice and character was precise and I hardly noticed they had their books in hand.

Tony Hine gave us a good example of pompous absurdity with Hamilton Penworthy.  The greedy solicitor manipulates the family he is supposed to serve. Rosemary Gibson, played the loyal Agatha Hammond.  Her character was controlled, her interactions with the siblings implied she ruled the house with a firm hand, yet motherly enough to get respect from the family. Characterisation and diction were both excellent, well done.

A note on costume – Firstly with ‘A Tomb With A View’ the action takes place over several days, yet costumes did not change.  Is this a budget issue?  Is it a director’s choice? The character of Emily had no shoes on. This seemed at odds with the fact she went running off down the secret passages and the under-croft of the spooky old house. I felt people would wear shoes or slippers when at home, in this era. Monica’s dress was stunning, but very obvious when she hadn’t changed for the morning, as I’m sure she would have found the time to do. Most of the gentlemen were in day suits, which looked too modern, yet Hamilton Penworthy wore a morning suit with tails. (In fact, in the first instance I thought he was the butler.) A more cohesive look to the costumes for the whole cast might have been considered. And finally, a word on wigs, I’m sorry to say they were too shiny for my taste. They looked modern, which they were but there are ways to tone down shine and colour on wigs and well worth thinking about for future productions.

Lighting and sound design were good, (Nick Elliott), and the gun shots etc were very effective. The evening light and day light coming in through the window added to the ambiance and showed the passage of time. Mark Brown and the backstage crew made swift changes which can sometimes be challenging when condensing a 3 act play to two for more modern audiences. Well done.

There was an excellent level of promotion for this production, Helen Pack has managed a superb campaign on facebook, the posters look eye catching, and the program full of interest. Including a generous space for other local groups to promote their productions. Finally, a word of thanks goes to the front of house team, selling programs and raffle tickets and generally offering a warm welcome to the audience at The Grantham Arts Centre.

 

 

 

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