Death In Mourning

It was a pleasure to visit North Manchester AODS for their production of ‘Death in Mourning,’ at The Simpson Memorial Hall. A murder mystery play, written and directed by Vanessa Randall. I always enjoy a good murder mystery although I admit, I rarely guess who the murderer is. My daughter and I sat with a small family to make up a team of five. Theories and ideas floated across our table and, to our surprise, although we did not win, my daughter guessed correctly, and we all had a fantastic time. The pie supper was delicious, and most welcome as the cast members worked the floor answering questions in character. Upon entering the hall, we received a warm welcome from the front of house team, then shown to our seats and given an information pack holding notes on how the evening would progress and a brief synopsis of the plot. The year was 1985, the Thornbury family were gathering for the funeral of Hypatia Thornbury, found dead in her bedroom, on the morning of her 70 th birthday. The official cause of death was heart failure, but Hypatia’s sister Jocasta had her own theory - murder. Enlisting the help of local detective Hetty Wainthrop, Jocasta intended to root out the truth, even if it meant condemning a family member.

The set was quite simple, seats arranged at various angles, allowed the audience to view all the actors as they assembled around a central table, complete with bell for
summoning the ‘staff.’ Two doorways positioned to the rear, either side of the stage, and the use of a doorway leading through the audience, gave the cast plenty of
entrance and exit points throughout the show, Jocasta Thornbury ( Pat Smithies) convinced that her sister Hypatia’s death was caused by nefarious means, invited her whole family to Thornbury Hall for the reading of the will, Jocasta intended to bring matters to a head, placing all her suspects in one location in the hopes that her secret weapon, Hetty Wainthrop, could figure out who indeed is guilty of murder. She set the scene for the audience, giving insight to the characters before they arrived, fuelling suspicion from the outset. Pat was strong in this role, consistent and confident. Ever present with Jocasta, was housekeeper Gladys Williams (Judie Krebs) Judie was wonderfully over the top with her facial expressions, playing the role with dead pan annunciation. I thought her appearance with rubber gloves brandishing a rolling pin was jolly comical. The audience thoughtfully enjoyed Judie’s performance. Hetty Wainthrop (Mary Doyle) a private detective, invited by Jocasta to investigate the Thornbury family, guided the audience through plot as she uncovered the truth. I really enjoyed Mary in this role; she had confidence and a strong stage presence. Easily explaining her theories as sub-plots and secrets appeared. I did like her costume of sensible shoes, skirt, and cardigan, they matched her characterisation, sensible and no nonsense. Adding to the tension from the moment they bustled onto the stage were husband and wife Kendal and Leonie Thornbury (Martyn Taylor and Melanie Jones, respectively.) Martyn was comical as the weak-willed husband, often belittled by his wife. His over reaction whilst bandaged made the audience laugh aloud. Melanie played the conniving adulterer Leonie, with conviction, her character cruel and calculating.

The family thespian, Ophelia Thornbury (Susan Longley) flounced through the audience upon arrival, with her ‘companion’ Phil Vernon (Ewan Arthur) Ophelia had drink and drug induced hallucinations that provided pertinent information on the plot. The nervous glances and flinching expressions telling of her emotional state, she was spiralling rapidly under the pressure. Susan was larger than life in this role, her gesturing flamboyant, her dialogue dramatic and flared. Ewan in contrast was menacing and harsh, his gruff treatment of Ophelia instantly turning the audience against him. I thought his death scene very comical as he looked up and announced ‘Yes dead’ then flopped back down again. Well played. Magnus Thornbury (Luke Jones) kept the audience guessing as he threw red herrings in the way. His stolen, knowing glances to the audience deflecting from his ultimate purpose. A confident performance from Luke. Poor Imogen Thornbury (Evie Smith) kindhearted and not overly bright, comically asked if she was the murderer with abject horror. Evie was designedly funny in this role, her facial expressions confused and innocent all in one. She had a strong command of her dialogue, staying in character throughout. Rounding up the cast was family solicitor Norman Ulverston (David Long.) David gave an impressive performance, his character confident, dialogue strong. I did enjoy watching his interactions with the audience during the questions round, he was obviously enjoying his characterisation.

The sound and lighting, supplied by Nick Lowe, was clear. Sound effects were well timed; lights hit all the spots with ease. The cast and crew worked hard throughout, and Vanessa Randall wrote and directed a strong play, that said, I would have personally preferred not to have quite so many prompts, the cast should have been allowed more time to get themselves out of any dialogue hiccups, although I am sure the audience would disagree. They laughed heartily at the enthusiastic prompting.

‘Death in Mourning’ was an enjoyable and entertaining event and I would like to thank North Manchester AODS for their hospitality and wish them luck for future productions.

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