Agatha Crusty and the Village Hall Murders

First of all, I have to be honest and say that unfortunately I didn’t like the play.  I was quite excited when I saw that you were doing this show but I found myself a little bit underwhelmed.  It was just not as funny as I expected and when a good comedy situation was developed, such as dealing with suspects and alibies with similar sounding names, it didn’t really go anyway – which was a real shame.  However, my review is based on your production rather than the script, which you obviously have no control over.

The curtain opened and the stage revealed a fabulous looking box set, in the style of a village hall.  Everything was here from notice boards to fire exit signs. a sturdy, yet simple set which worked perfectly for this production.  The whole play was based in the village hall and the scene changes were there merely to show the passing of time.  Each scene change was done as a sort of mini-cliff hanger with suitably shocked looks, mostly to the audience, accompanied by music from a different TV detective series.  Unfortunately, there were quite a few of these scene changes and many of them were rather long.  The problem was as soon as the curtain shut the audience would all start talking and it took a minute or two to get them to focus back on the play.  I understand the importance of doing it in this way but I can’t help wondering if these could have been done a little differently, especially as sometimes all that had happened was a chair or two had been moved!

Wigs, make-up and costumes were all great and everyone looked the part.  Lighting for this production was quite simple, due to the nature of the show, but everything was well lit at all times.  The sound quality was incredibly good especially as there wasn’t any microphones (at least I don’t think there was).  Everyone on the stage were very adept at projection and the audience could hear every word clearly.  Especially impressive was Eric Weathran (superbly assisted by Cathie Warner), who played Oliver with a deep, gruff, posh voice, which could have easily got lost but all his/her lines were completely audible.

CUDOS are very lucky to have such a plethora of great acting talent and this was on show again here.  Everyone’s characterisations were spot on and I loved the extra little nuances which were put in, such as Rev Bishop picking off fluff from his trousers whenever he sat down.  Clearly, the cast had been working hard on their characters and it really showed and it gave the show an extra depth.  Angie Eason and Robert Judge, did a fantastic job of anchoring the whole thing with their portrayals of Agatha and DI Twigg.  Both these actors had lots of lines to learn, which can be very daunting but they both delivered admirably.  Cathie Warner did a superb job of jumping between the characters of Oliver and Olivia, whilst still delivering distinct characterisations.  Also doing a superb job, with multiple roles, was Vicki Stephens as Maisie and Mandy, these characters were very different: one confident and the other shy and reserved.  Vicki swung between the two so well, that I had to check it really was the same person playing both roles.  As mentioned, all the actors did a great job with their characterisations however some of the delivery was a little slow and there were a few times, most notably towards the end, that I wished the pace would pick up a little.

On the night I came there was the need for an occasional prompt and Sarah Elliott did a great job of giving these swiftly, so as not to impede the production too much.  Also, well done to those that needed prompting as, far too often, I see actors then thrown for a few minutes but not here, the prompt was given and off we went again as if nothing had happened.  In fact, people further back than me might not have even noticed a prompt had happened at all.

Overall, this was a nice night out but not the best thing that I have seen on The Victoria Hall stage.  I feel the cast did a sterling job of getting as much humour as they did out of a weak script.  The characterisations, sound quality and look of the show were very strong, although the pace and scene changes were a little slow.  The night I came, as well as a few prompts, there were a few mistakes where actors were calling characters by the wrong name but overall it did feel like everyone on the stage was having a good time.

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