Inspector Drakes Last Case

I was expecting a classic murder mystery play until I read the front of the programme which said that the play was a “Classic ‘whodunnit’ spoof”.   So I wasn’t sure what to expect when the curtains went up.

The play was a whole cornucopia of laughs, almost every line of dialogue had a joke, a malapropism or innuendo that made the audience laugh.   The cast played their parts well and once we had sorted out Mr Butler (the guest) from Mr Guest (the butler) and numerous similar title/name swaps the plot unfolded.  Kevin Watts’ performance as Sergeant Plod was priceless, he had the audience in the palm of his hand every time he spoke.   Wayne Price played the seemingly incompetent Inspector Drake well.   Victoria Grayling’s performance as the exotic Miss Duck was delightful and John Scowen produced quite a few laughs with his performance as Victor Gargarin.  His character had a pronounced limp at the start but this seemed to come and go during the performance, which was a pity as it is referred to in the dialogue, so it must have been important.

All the other members of the cast gave strong performances and they did well to keep straight faces delivering some of the dialogue.  Rehearsals must have been a hoot!  I loved the ongoing gag with the warming pan!  This company does not use microphones and it is a pleasure to hear every word.  The venue is good acoustically but it still needs the performers to project, which they all did.

I found the pace a little slow, at times, in the first half; as the explanations to unravel the plot seemed to stretch on a bit.   There seemed to be a lot of silences that were not really filled by the activity on stage.   I would have liked to have seen more side play, by Inspector Drake, with his magnifying glass and the action seemed a little bit static.

The second half was much pacier until it came to the dénouement and then I just became completely confused!   To be fair it is how the play is written more than what the director did with it.  The finale just seemed to flounder which was a bit unsatisfactory from an audience point of view.  However this was definitely the fault of the script not the performers, they did a good job of trying to make sense of it.

I still left with a big smile on my face and my companion and I spent most of the drive home, reliving some of the priceless dialogue.

Well done to Thurrock Courts Players on another funny play, this is what you do best.

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