Murdered To Death

~~This play, by Peter Gordon, is one of a trilogy written as spoof Murder Mysteries.  It is full of innuendo and great dialogue.  Beautifully crafted, it gave Thurrock Courts Players a great opportunity to display their talented cast.  Director Mike Jones brought out every nuance in the script, giving us a very entertaining evening.

Jill Snelling (Mildred Bagshot) gave a great, if short lived, performance being the first character to be killed.  Victoria Grayling (Dorothy Foxton) was excellent as the subservient poor relation, demonstrating that she was actually much more devious than her initial persona indicated.   Vic Gray was Colonel Cradock, demonstrating his great skill at characterisation and Lisa Chapman played his long suffering wife Margaret well.   Dave Carey was terrific as the butler, Bunting, showing a range of acting skills and Madeleine Emmerson was perfect as Miss Marple.

Louise Alsop (Elizabeth Hartley Trumpington) seemed a little ‘over the top’ at first but all was revealed during the play and her switch between the posh character and the real character was excellent.  Luke Coldham had to make a similar switch in his role of Pierre Marceau and the interchanges between these two in their true personae was terrific.

Finally, to Wayne Prince (Inspector Pratt) who seemed to have most of the double entendres and delivered them with a perfect sense of timing.  Assisted by Kevin Watts as the long suffering Constable Thompkins, they made a perfect double act.

Scenery was, as always from this society, excellent; solidly built and beautifully painted by Paul Lazell.  Costumes were generally right for the period, although I would question a flapper style dress in the thirties!  The dialogue was, generally, well projected, making the use of microphones unnecessary.

A lovely evening’s entertainment, my thanks to Thurrock Courts Players for their hospitality.

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