Murder at the Oscars

Despite the small venue, no effort had been spared in dressing up the village hall in all the ‘Oscar Night’ trimmings - including two giant ‘Oscar’ statues outside the entrance. Guests to this night of glamour and murder were already primed for something beyond the usual stage play and as we were all ushered to our seats (cabaret-style), we entered an atmospheric hall with the focus on a stage dressed in colourful lights through an effective haze.

The events of the evening, penned by the show’s director and producer Phil Goodenough, were based around the Academy Awards Ceremony, which started in traditional performance style but upon the discovery of a murder, broke down into more interactive time for the audience to individual quiz the ‘suspects’ to discover the culprit. It took the audience a little time to get to grips with the format, but they certainly enjoyed and appreciated the performance - many of them got right into their roles as amateur detectives, while other just let the events unfold around them. The production was scripted to ‘ease’ us into the story, beginning with a red carpet entrance for the ‘stars’ that included interviews with gossip columnist, Rita Skeeter, that instantly gave away the identity of the poor soul whose days were surely numbered as motive after motive was setup. Yes, unfortunately we didn’t get the chance to talk to the young starlet Andrea Cann, as the moment the ceremony started she was face-down on the table. Shame.

In this kind of production, where the audience are expected to unravel a mystery based on presented evidence, attention to detail is very important. Although the script was written around a relatively simple plot, necessary if the ‘detectives’ are to have a chance of solving it in just a short evening, there were quite a few discrepancies that didn’t help the ’accuracy’ of the production. Chief amongst these was the setting at the Academy Awards in LA, with only one american accent in the cast. Similarly, it was amusing to have the paramedics rush in wearing NHS uniforms and stethoscopes, perhaps not something that most audience members might pay much attention to, but certainly something that shouldn’t happen.

The characters were generally played nicely, with a couple of characters that stood out much stronger than the others. American movie star, Jason Honiton, was suave and played well, almost a bit of a Zac Effron-type. Similarly strong was matter-of-fact George Egbert, who was constantly in character and chipping in (whether his wife, Fanny, wanted him to or not!). Not to mention his various flora-based puns, my favourite of which was ‘Back to the Fuchsia’! Of course all these ‘suspects’ were only operating under the safety of a script for a relatively short time, so once the audience were unleaded on them, would they fare as well? Knowing some of the cast, I found myself deliberately looking to see if they would break character and say ‘Hi’ - but this only happened once and in fact, try though I might, I couldn’t get Jodie Eager to bat an eyelid. Very well trained!

When given the opportunity to mingle with the audience, I was aware that a few of the cast were making the extra effort to move around the various tables, to interact with those of us that were sitting back and watching the proceedings. This was a good move on their part that helped engage the whole audience and not just waiting to be approached. Good character work and improvising from Lucy Drew (glamorous star of the silver screen), while the ‘interesting accent award’ goes to Frankie Mannally - the Irishman with a chequered past, possibly something to do with the Welsh and Indian lilts that kept sneaking in!

The character doing most of the poking around on our behalf was Lt. Columbo. Yes that one. Dishevelled mac, slight hunch and a constant obsession with asking ‘Just one more question’, or getting tips for his wife’s flower garden. This was a nice way of getting out all the relevant information (and misinformation) from the suspects and also gave the audience a laugh. During Columbo’s interrogations, I was vaguely aware of an altercation between two characters across the hall. A half-hearted slap and some storming around, which would have been a great punctuation point for the evening, if only it had been better timed and executed.

Some lessons can be learned from this foray into interactive theatre, from a practical point-of-view some clearer guidelines up front would help, instead of drip feeding them - perhaps even a printed guide on the tables to accompany the suspect sheet (which was very handy!). Summing up in the final scene saw some strong performances from Jody & Lucy whose banter was fun and engaging, followed by ‘The Big Reveal’ as the wicked murder was unmasked (albeit with less drama than I expected for a finalé). Technical issues meant that some of the information wasn’t heard properly by some of the audience, but on the whole the success of the evening has to be gauged by applause level and the number of people who solved the crime, both of which indicate a good showing for Croyde Player’s first foray into Murder Mysteries.

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