Agatha Crusty and the Village Hall Murders

To Grantham, in response to a kind invitation from St Peter’s Hill Players who were performing “Agatha Crusty and the Village Hall Murders”. Miss Crusty (pronounced Croosty) is a crime novelist, the creation of the playwright Derek Webb, who was inspired by the Agatha Christie novels he so enjoys. As Agatha (ably played by Lesley Sparrow) arrives to stay for a few days with her sister-in-law Alice, (confidently played by Lucy Kelley), a number of suspicious deaths begin to occur among members of Chortleby village hall committee. Detective Inspector Twig who takes charge of the official investigation is definitely not the sharpest knife in the drawer - he is prone to stating the obvious then rapidly drawing the wrong conclusions; Tony Hine’s characterisation in this role was spot-on. The roles of Harry the caretaker and PC Lockett were performed by Gary Cadwallader and Briony Sparrow coped well with the parts of Oliver and Olivia. Gus Sparrow gave a competent performance as Toby, the local vicar. Verity Tabor-Foxon played the part of Eleanor, chairman of the committee, who had a crush on the unmarried vicar. Lynette Richardson as Isabella was required to act out her death scene on stage which she did with much realism. Dawn Cadwallader played Maisie the conscientious hall caretaker, an expert with the mop and bucket. Kirsty Fisk was Mandy the life model who never managed to disrobe, much to the disappointment of the bachelor vicar. The sets were sufficiently furnished so as to be readily identifiable and the cast, who were appropriately costumed, projected their lines well. This comedy murder mystery contained an abundance of puns and witty “one liners” that were delivered with good timing. Very enjoyable entertainment – well done!

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