Murder in Play

Murder in Play staged by Rainhill Garrick Society at Rainhill Village Hall, Dane Court, Rainhill on Saturday, 20th May 2023.

‘Murder in Play’ is a cleverly written comedy ‘whodunnit’… designed as a play within a play, written by the talented Simon Brett.  The idea of a murder taking place during a rehearsal for a play is not new, but this was an extremely funny and clever take on that theme.  The play, ‘Murder at Priorswell Manor’ involves an inept theatre company rehearsing a creaky old murder-mystery, the rehearsals for which are going really badly. The cast are more interested in ego’s than the actual play which is basically a comic catastrophe – hidden secrets and past relationships come to the fore and the inevitable murder of our leading lady takes place just before the interval. The cast of the play are then ‘shuffled around’ so people are having to learn new lines and then unlikely characters turn into ‘super sleuths to solve the mystery! This types of production can be quite a challenge, but Rainhill Garrick, took the bull by the horns and made a really great job of it!

The Programme… the first thing most people do, I certainly do, when they go to the theatre, especially if I haven’t seen the production before, is read the programme and the notes!  But I must admit when I opened this programme, I was ever so slightly confused!  The front cover read … ‘Murder in Play’ written by Simon Brett and directed by Rick Young at Rainhill Village Hall which is what I thought I’d come to see and review!  But when I then opened the programme… I was surprised to see, emblazoned across the first page the title ‘Murder at Priorswell Manor’ a new thriller by Boris Smolensky being presented at St. George’s Theatre, Eastcliff-on-Sea and a page full of adverts from companies, shops and a dance School from Eastcliff-on-Sea!  Still trying to get my head around this… I turned to the next page where I was introduced to the cast of ‘Murder at Priorswell Manor’… a list of scenes, credits, more adverts from Eastcliff-on-Sea and a listing further productions ... I was now really scratching my head!  But, turning to the centre page… the ‘penny started to drop’ … when I saw a further cast list showing some names, I recognised from Rainhill GS alongside names from ‘Murder at Priorsdale Manor’ … clever, clever, clever yet very confusing – THANK YOU SO MUCH RICHARD PARKER … ahahahah!

The Production Team… as stated above, these types of productions can be quite a challenge… and it was Rick Young (Director) who accepted that challenge and what a great job he made of it.  I would suggest, without knowing, that Rick had a really good idea of what he wanted from this play and how to achieve it… all aspects of the production were well thought out and the attention to detail was notable, which gave the actors every opportunity to ‘do their thing’ and give of their best!  Well done, Rick… great job sir!

The Cast… even after getting my head around the programme and even though I thought this was a great production, it was still a bit of a challenge ‘writing it up’… real names, real fictitious names and character names… oh well here goes, I’m sure you’ll know who I’m talking about… at least, I hope! For plays of this nature to work, it is essential that the cast work together as one… and that was very much evident here at Rainhill Garrick!  This was every inch a ‘team effort’ with no individual stars, just a group of like-minded folk coming together to produce an extremely entertaining piece of theatre!  A cast of eight, (five females / three males) gave us convincing/believable portrayals of the contrasting, obsessed, dysfunctional characters.  Where to start … without doubt, this storyline/plot would have been a lesser entity without the odd illicit affair by our philandering, bombastic Russian director “Boris Smolensky” played by George Lowe. George looked totally comfortable in this role… good stage presence, wonderful mannerisms and I just loved the accent … be very proud George!   Adding a little spice and nastiness to proceedings we found Jo Webster playing ‘Renee Savage’, Boris’s wife who was cast as the plays leading lady … ‘Lady Dorothy Cholmondeley’. Jo made this role her own and swept around the stage with great poise as befitted the character, … what a shame she got murdered at the end of Act 1!  Well done, Jo, great job!  Alison Mawdesley as ‘Ginette Vincent’ played the role of ‘Lady Virginia Cholmondley’ … Boris’s latest ‘philandering conquest’!  Ginette played the naïve ‘star-struck’ actress, totally smitten by Boris’s advances and attention, who becomes a ‘prime suspect’ when Renee is murdered… one of a few!  Alison is another with great stage presence and who worked well with all the cast members… be proud Alison!  Tom Nevitt as ‘Tim Fermor’ playing ‘Major Rodney Pirbright’ was another with his eyes on Ginette, but from afar!  An ex-soldier with a ‘shell shock problem’, now a jobbing actor and an Equity Representative who covers up his limited acting ability by constantly quoting chapter and verse the rules and regs regarding breaktimes… really did enjoy his characterisation of this role, good stage presence and good comedic timing, well done Tom.  Rosetta Parker as ‘Christa d’Amato’ plays ‘Mrs Puttock’ a fading soap star who plays the cook/housekeeper!  Loved the continuous bickering between ‘Christa’ and Renee, in particular, when Renee threatens to expose Christa’s past dirty dealings (everyone as a skeleton)!   Well done, Rosetta, another prime suspect!  Michael Brennan did an great job as the fading Shakespearean actor ‘Harrison Bracewell’… ‘Mr Papadopoulos’ in the play, who is much fonder of the bottle and quoting his past theatrical experiences than learning his lines for this play!  Michael provided us with so many laugh out loud moments, most of which came when inside that infernal cupboard. Well done, Michael, I’ve never seen so much blood on one shirt… be proud sir!  Sophie Brogan as ‘Sophie Lawton’ provided us with another solid character in the form of ‘Triggs’ the house maid in the play… an actress with little or no talent who continually gets forced into taking on roles as a maid, but who’s real character actually comes to the fore in Act 2 as a ‘super sleuth’ who helps solve the murder!  Completing a strong line up, we had Angela Vose as ‘Pat’… the ‘timid’ stage manager and basically the societies ‘dogsbody’! More often than not, Pat could be found ‘tinkering’ with the lock on that infernal door, but in Act 2, Pat is forced into a major role change when Renee is murdered … loved the characters created, oozed stage presence and made a great job of both roles! 

Staging/Set/Tech… they say that first impressions count, so it was great to see yet another fabulous set here at Rainhill.  Another society who builds sets in house… the attention to detail of which was noteworthy!  Congrats to Richard Parker (Set Design) and to Graham Swift (Stage Manager) for all their efforts in staging what was a great production.  Lighting was simple but effective under the watchful eye of Graham Swift.  Tracey Duffy was tasked with looking after the ‘Sound’ for this production, which was solid throughout. Well done one and all!

Costumes and Props … as always, the costumes and props were superb and enhanced the show ever so much… Lucy Whitfield (i/c props) … well done to all involved!

Still slightly confused and hoping the review makes sense… but what wasn’t confusing was audience appreciation of effort and commitment that had obviously gone into this production… we/they were completely and thoroughly entertained which was obvious from the warn and generous applause received by the cast at the bows… well done guys and thank you so much for inviting my wife and I to your production; I really do hope we get that chance to meet before your next one!

Stay safe and keep well…

‘Stronger Together’

Jim Briscoe
NODA NW
District 6 Rep
 

 

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