Agatha Crusty & the Village Hall Murders

In the last two weeks I have seen five murders that never actually happened, one murder with five perpetrators and now five (or was it six?) murders in a village, normally quiet but perhaps trying to catch up with Midsummer. The script for “Agatha Crusty and the Village Hall Murders” by Derek Webb is the funniest of the three murder mysteries I have seen recently, in that a totally inept detective inspector complete with a penchant for copious pointless notes and getting nowhere, is then manipulated by a writer and amateur sleuth to arrive at the right conclusion.

The bumbling inspector Twigg  (George Lake) instigated a lot of the comedy by his sense of great self ability in crime solving but with little common sense to think anything through sensibly much to the frustration of the characters on the village hall committee. His nemesis was the razor sharp Agatha Crusty - pronounced Croo-stee (Sue Duncan) who was able to shoot every single theory of his down in flames with just a few curt words. There was excellent wordplay between these two.

Our eclectic mix of seven suspects were the Rev. Toby Bishop (Simon Ancell) and the lady hankering after his affections, Eleanor Wagstaff (Doe Constable).  Harry Knott (Joe Finch) was a strong suspect - he did not seem to like anyone. Olivia and Oliver Truscott-Pratt, a brother and sister (both played by Leo Baker) were another two possible criminals and even Agatha’s niece Alice Fogg (Kim Logan) was in the running order. Maisie Grimm, the hall cleaner (Liz Tobias) was the final candidate.

Other characters in the complicated plot but not suspects were P.C. Lockett (also played by Joe Finch), Isabella Battersby (Carolyn Cumber) - a victim and finally Mandy (Anne Lovelock),  a life model for the village art class.

I thought that all the above characters were cast well and characterised their personae very well.  Again, the quick and witty dialogue flowed effortlessly between them without hesitation.  

The technical side of the production went without hitch and the set, simple but effective. As many of us are actors and use village/church halls for rehearsal, it crossed my mind that maybe the scene changes could have been effected by the actors themselves. We have all been to these sort of places and had to re-arrange the hall for rehearsal and then leave it as we found it.

A most enjoyable evening was provided by this group. Thank you and congratulations.

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