Death Mountain

This was such an entertaining evening. I must have missed the memo to come dressed in Alpine clothing but it didn’t matter as I thoroughly enjoyed watching the arrival of my fellow audience that wouldn’t have looked out of place at the winter Olympics. As this was a charity event, it was fantastic to see it was full to capacity for the opening night. My compliments to the catering team who provided an excellent meal which we all enjoyed pre and during the play.

Yet again, Colwall had built an amazing set. The stage was in two halves, with a typical alpine interior living room, with a working French door opening onto a veranda and a bedroom, whose bedding was subtly changed to depict several bedrooms. It’s aways the attention to detail that makes it stand out and become part of the production.

This in house murder mystery was cleverly constructed and it certainly had the little grey cells swirling. The eight characters names were puns on the role being played and had the audience chuckling with delight.

Morag McSpredder was played by the lovely Angela Meredith who always brings a touch of elegance to the productions and portrayed the women scorned very well.

Andrew Howie was the Germanic racing driver Hans Orff, whose overbearing arrogance was almost his undoing and I thought he was going to be the murder victim. Or perhaps that was wishful thinking as he really played the part well.

John Denham was Winston Burchill and was so right for the role, giving a very credible performance as the politician.

Hiroto Novela (Hiro) was a funny little character played by Joe Herron and had the right mix of timidity and menace.

Eva Vestov was a brilliant character very well played by Dianne Lloyd. She was a very credible ex Russian Ballerina, temptress and needy women. Dianne was the lynch pin of the evening’s performance once she had been dispatched… her Miss Marple style ending was extremely good.

Claude Monet-Grabaire was an artist with hidden secrets that unravelled during the play.  Micheal Peden gave a fine depiction of a slightly eccentric artist whose unpleasant side was unexpected.

Jane Herron was fabulous as the loud and proud Amelia Earake, who had done everything you could think of and whilst she would have been a true contender of the role of Murderer, I didn’t want her to be. An irritating but likeable person rolled into one.

Anna Byers was the environmentalist Polly Carton and completed the cast of accomplished actors who also had a secret which contradicted her beliefs.

This was such a clever production, so well thought through. The tables of four were given time to consider the hints and motives provided by the cast before completing their submission to the judges. Only then did the cast come on and Eva unveiled the culprit.

I’m mortified that I got it wrong, but that was the true testament to the many scenarios’ that had been provided which muddied the waters for me. However, my three companions were right so my opinion didn’t matter.

Great costumes, set, sound effects and overall presentation made this a very enjoyable evening. Thank you so much Colwall Players.

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