Agatha Crusty and the Village Hall Murders

As everyone waited with eager anticipation for this rescheduled production to begin you could possibly be forgiven for detecting a slight frisson of apprehension around the hall as the title perhaps suggested that there could be some audience participation involved! Happily, the action was confined to the bodies on stage, and in a village where normally nothing much goes on, they certainly began to stack up!

The tabs opened to a well-constructed set representing the Village Hall, with three solid doors SR, SL and up centre, a pile of typical hall chairs, a back wall covered with the usual Community information, and a disinterested caretaker engrossed in his Racing Post!

Agatha Crusty (pronounced Croosty), a crime novelist who is also pretty adept at solving crimes, arrives to stay in the village for a few days and soon gets caught up in a series of murders seemingly aimed at members of the Village Hall Committee, and her powers of deduction are put to the test!

It all started when Maisie the cleaner’s husband Harry’s shotgun went off causing his demise, then Bendy Wendy the Pilates expert tripped down the stairs and broke her neck and poor Barry was found drowned upside down in the water butt. Were these all unfortunate accidents or was there something more sinister afoot? Dun, dun, dun!

Detective Inspector Twigg was drafted in from Tiverton to solve the case, luckily Agatha was on hand to eventually save the day but not before three more bodies had been added to the list!

This was a large cast representing the motley array of typical village characters and most especially those found in “Agatha Christie” land! Gossip, village politics, misunderstandings and “double entendres” abounded! Everyone worked well together, the various characters were clearly defined, and it was good too to see members of the group stretching themselves into different roles after pantomime. The production also gave good opportunity to gain experience with smaller parts.

Harry the caretaker was suitably grumpy and authoritative bringing a touch of realism to the situation. Eleanor was obviously the stalwart of the Hall Committee and fluttered around tactfully trying to keep the peace. She had a definite soft spot for the Vicar and a penchant for some decorative floaty skirts which seem to change at every entrance!

Agatha made a confident impression from the start and was the complete antithesis to the usual tweedy Miss Marple character, with bright sweaters, boots, and a sharp hairstyle, she certainly had the measure of DI Twigg!

Other characters drifted in an out as the action dictated and we were treated to a range of Community activities taking place in the Hall, cookery, panto rehearsals, and the highlight for the local squire, and perhaps the Vicar, the “life model” art class!

The script was particularly wordy and “tongue twisting” and the cast did well to keep everything on track, although much to the delight of the audience things did go awry at times and the lines “I don’t know what you are talking about” proved to be particularly useful! There was a priceless moment when Isabella announced that she was Eleanor but quickly corrected herself without missing a beat!

All the remaining members of the Committee kept the audience guessing as they came under the spotlight of suspicion in turn. Maisie the Cleaner and WPC Lockett were both believably played with lots of natural expression. The Truscot-Pratt’s made a good pair as the local gentry, with Oliver keenly having his sights set on the scantily clad and bravely played model Mandy, rather than his broken shotgun! Agatha’s sister-in-law Alice completed the Committee but was far too gentle and endearing to be the murderer – or was she?

As the bodies stacked up DI Twigg, who was really pretty hopeless, meandered in and out as he tried to establish facts and motives to little avail - at times it was like wading through treacle! The poor chap certainly had difficulty with people’s names confusing Harry with Barry and the like and the Vicar being named Bishop when he was actually only a Reverend was just too much!

Of course, it was down to Agatha in the end to solve the case, and in true “Christie” tradition everyone was gathered on stage for the reveal!

Despite the Vicar’s exciting theory that a hoard of Viking treasure had been buried under the Hall, and that maybe this was the reason for the management being “bumped off” one by one, Agatha disclosed that sadly it was actually Maisie who was the perpetrator, taking her revenge on the Committee because of Harry’s suicide.

There was a lot of setting and resetting of tables and chairs between scenes which was well handled by members of the cast and the backstage crew. Costumes were right for the characters and the lighting and sound suitably designed for the piece, although on occasion at this performance the scene change music ended quite sharply when a slow fade may have been better.  

As already highlighted, this was a ponderous script with red herrings galore which at times did slow up the pace, but the production was very well received by this first night audience especially when things didn’t quite go according to plan!

Special mention must be made of the young man in the role of the Rev. Toby Bishop. His walk, general mannerisms and delivery were delightful, a performance that belied his years – well done!

 On reflection of course everything that went wrong or appeared to go wrong could have been part of a craftily contrived plot, cleverly executed by the performers on stage - it really was a mystery!

Any observation made by the reviewer can only be based on what they see at the performance in question.  The reviewer may have received information in advance of the performance, and it is inevitable that their assessment will be affected by that knowledge.

The N.O.D.A. Representative’s intention is to give an objective critique of the overall production and in particular the performance viewed.  It should be remembered that any review of this nature can only be objective as far as the techniques used during the performance observed.  Any criticisms expressed may not have been valid at other performances and are only made to encourage higher standards in Amateur Theatre.

It is hoped that the audience’s appreciation of your efforts will have given everyone a lift and encouraged you to greater achievements in the future and that the observations made by the reviewer will prove helpful in improving future productions.

 

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