Agatha Crusty and the Murder Mystery Dinner

Having been starved of live theatre for so long, it was a real joy to walk into the Community Hall at Polegate and to be greeted by the sight of an excellent stage set depicting the sitting room of a large Victorian house.  Many congratulations to the set design and build team (David Buck, David Shanks and Sarah Griffin) for this lovely first impression.

This was the second Agatha Crusty murder mystery I’ve seen Polegate produce and it wasn’t long before the first real murder took place. Good characterisations from the whole cast who had convened to enjoy a murder mystery dinner which proved to be much more sinister as the action went on.

This was a conversational piece with all the characters interacting with each other well but there were times when some participants’ words were not too clear.  This could have been due to the hall’s sound system or to my need of another hearing test!  However, I’m sure that all amdram folk know the importance of voice projection.

Sarah Hole and Ian Parratt played the hosts, Caroline and Geoffrey Robertson with Jane Parratt as Agatha Crusty and they and the whole cast brought their characters to life.

The guests all came suitably attired for an evening out but quite early on they were all given a prop, ie an item of clothing, hat etc. to identify which character they were playing at the dinner party.  Indeed, the first murder was a strangulation executed with the use of the character’s prop scarf and Caroline Robertson was no more.

It was beginning to be like Agatha Christie’s Ten Little Indians by the conclusion but it was all good fun.

Congratulations to Director Helen Griffin and to all those involved, either on stage or behind the scenes for bringing this fascinating play to the stage in these very uncertain times.

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