Agatha Crusty and the Pantomime Murders

It was a wonderful night of ‘firsts’ in the Carriageworks Studio Theatre: this was the premier performance ofthe comedy murder mystery, ‘Agatha Crusty and the Pantomime Murders’, brought to life by this very gifted team, led by Gillian Myers in her directorial debut.

Celebrated crime writer Agatha Crusty (pronounced ‘Croosty’) turns up a week early for a book festival in the village hall of Giglington (where it always rains). She is surprised to find, not the book festival, but the local drama group rehearsing for ‘Peter Pan’. The group welcome her, and she decides to stay in Giglingtonfor the week; after all, what could possibly go wrong? Well, we soon get to know exactly what can go wrong: members of the cast soon begin to meet with a series of ‘accidents’. They drop like flies. Can Agatha discover the identity of the murderer…?

Mr Webb has created a very funny play in the great British mould of the ‘who-dunnit’. Right from the outset, the audience were treated to an array of fascinating characters.

The players put in a great effort to deliver the wealth of comedy and plot which this piece demands; every member inhabited his or her part with precision, delivering their lines with the clarity and understanding which one has come to expect from such an experienced and talented group.

The very gifted Carolyn Craven artfully presented a wonderful sleuth in Agatha Crusty; her disarming smileand gentle manner masking the gimlet eye, with the seemingly innocent questions which would get to the bottom of even the most complicated plot (and this one was).

It is this kind of investment in the character of each part which is crucial to the success of a play like this; from Emily Lewis’s (Georgina Rushworth) all too brief appearance as Peter Pan, who would, prophetically, ‘never grow up’ through to the tour de force of Richard Hunt as the Oscar Wilde-quoting luvvie, Anton de Valera; everyone was believable, and very funny, to boot.

As you might expect, nearly every character had something to hide, until they either met their grisly end, or were exposed by the dogged amateur detective. This called for a talented cast: Lee Sharratt was marvellously frantic as Alan Wilde, the suspiciously nervous stage manager. Director Jessica Price (Louise Blackburn), tried to hold the show together. Surely an amateur dramatic group wouldn’t really carry on with the show as their cast was so tragically decimated… would they?

What was the initially likeable Jack Bradley (played by Matt Hills) hiding? How many affairs couldwomaniser Nick Angel, (a strong performance by Matt Jones) carry on at the same time? Did Juliet Phillips(Emma McGrath) know more than she appeared to? Elaine Jackson was a delight as the treasurer, Gloria Bennett – why were the Giglington Players so hard up? June Williamson’s wannabe sleuth Sue Watson-Moore was doggedly interfering and ultimately hilarious as she thought up more and more complicated plots.

Tracey Tyler, human resources manager by day, may have had nothing to hide; we would never know – herfabulous ‘management-speak’ rendered nearly everything she said incomprehensible! Leah Hamilton played Tracey to perfection, unusually handing the baton over to Stacey Thompson for the latter part of the week.

In a nice touch, the audience were invited to guess the murderer’s identity during the interval, which certainly taxed the little grey cells! Justice was ultimately delivered, in the form of the disembodied voice of Bryan Craven as ‘Policeman’.

Gillian Myers’ direction made sure that the comedy, mostly derived from the witty dialogue, was not left on the page, but brought to life. The production Jan Morrell, producer, SM Rachel Bickerdike, Sound & Lights Glyn Pringle was thoughtful and fluid.

It was the first, triumphant, run of Agatha Crusty (pronounced Croosty) and the Pantomime Murders; and Cosmopolitan Players dunnit very well indeed!

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